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Manila Bulletin devider Philippines devider National devider Lift or extend ECQ in NCR? Palace says IATF to find 'delicate balance of total health'

Lift or extend ECQ in NCR? Palace says IATF to find 'delicate balance of total health'

Published Aug 18, 2021 05:48 pm

The government will put premium on "total health" before deciding on whether to lift or extend the hard lockdown enforced in Metro Manila this month, according to a Palace official.

Village officials from Barangay 63, Zone 8 put a barricade along Natividad St. in Pasay City on August 16, 2021 after being placed under special concern lockdown as a precaution against the virus spread. (Ali Vicoy/Manila Bulletin)

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the number of coronavirus cases and the hunger incidence rate will be among the factors that will be considered in the decision of the government task force in charge of addressing the pandemic.

A consensus on the new quarantine classification of Metro Manila has not yet been reached since data were still being gathered. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is scheduled to hold a meeting on Thursday, August 19.

Metro Manila has been placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the most restrictive of the four quarantine levels, since August 6. The strict lockdown, that includes stay-at-home rule except for going to work in permitted offices and getting food and other essentials, travel restrictions, limited capacities in some businesses and public transportation, will lapse on August 20. The capital region has recorded 602,927 COVID-19 cases, including 30,063 active cases and 8,602 deaths, as of August 18.

"Wala pa pong kahit anong consensus. Bakit? Eh wala pa po kaming nakukuhang report as far as data is concerned (There is no consensus yet. Why? Because we have not received any report as far as data is concerned," Roque said during an online briefing Tuesday, August 17.

"Our objective is to achieve total health. Hindi naman po pupuwedeng mapapababa ang numero ng mga COVID, samantalang napakataas naman po ang naghihirap dahil sa kagutuman (We can't just bring down the COVID numbers while the number of people suffering due to hunger is rising)," he added.

He said the government task force intends to work out "a delicate balance of total health," referring to the balance between health of the people and the economy. "Pero sa ngayon po kinakailangan makita ang datos (But for now, we must see the data) Because all the decisions of the IATF are data-driven," he said.

Apart from the capital region, Laguna has been placed under ECQ until August 20 to curb the rise in coronavirus infections. The province of Bataan also remains under ECQ until August 22.

Related Tags

Harry Roque ECQ total health NCR Metro Manila extend lockdown
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