The national government, business leaders, and medical experts are set to hold a town hall on how the National Capital Region (NCR) can maximize the upcoming two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to arrest the spread of the Delta variant of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

The said town hall will be led by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion and Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos. It can be streamed on Go Negosyo's Facebook Page on August 4 at 9:30 a.m.

Those expected to join the discussions are leaders of the government's pandemic task force namely Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 Chief Implementer Carlito Galvez Jr., NTF Deputy Chief Implementer Vince Dizon, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, among others.

Various local chief executives of NCR are also expected to provide their inputs during the town hall.

In a statement, Concepcion reiterated that it was better for Metro Manila to undergo a two-week lockdown as soon as possible instead of imposing the ECQ later in the year. NCR was set to undergo ECQ from August 6 to 20, 2021.

"We prefer that we solve the problem early and not wait for the problem to get bigger because then we will have a lockdown for months. That is the most catastrophic thing in our country if that happens in the fourth quarter," he said.

The Go Negosyo founder said the reimposition of a stricter lockdown can be properly utilized to decrease exponential infections from the Delta variant.

"We need to slow down the acceleration of the Delta infections to buy us more time to inoculate the unprotected. This also allows us to save the lives of the unvaccinated people, who are the most vulnerable during this time," he added.

In particular, Concepcion pointed out that while the upcoming ECQ may not totally kill the virus, it will allow the government to recalibrate its measures in order to prepare the country’s best practices against the dreaded Delta variant.

"What the lockdown buys us is time. What we need is to reach the unvaccinated before the Delta variant does. How do we do that? Through vaccination," he said.

"A lockdown without accomplishing massive vaccination will not work. The lockdown doesn't kill the virus, but only weakens it so that we have a lot more time to mobilize our vaccines. That is the objective," he added.

Concepcion likewise stressed the importance of unity among all sectors of the society to effectively utilize the reimposition of the ECQ.

"The success of the lockdown depends on teamwork," he said.

"To be able to accomplish it in two weeks, the private sector, national government, and local government units must really come together for a united effort. This is because we do not want it to extend," he added.