Health expert hopes ECQ will result in 'drastic' decrease of projected Delta cases
A public health expert hopes that the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will result in a "drastic" decrease of the projected Delta cases in Metro Manila.

Without intervention, active cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the Philippines could potentially reach 200,000 to 300,000.
"The most important action point during ECQ is to vaccinate as many people as possible," Dr. Edsel Salvana, an infectious disease expert, said during a virtual Palace briefing on Monday, Aug. 2.
"The reason for that is even if we reach the point where the number of our cases increase because of the Delta surge, if most of our countrymen have been vaccinated by that time, then we will see a 90 percent decrease in hospitalization and a 90 percent decrease in death," Salvana added.
He noted that even if COVID-19 cases in the country rise by "ten folds," the number of individuals who would need to get admitted to hospitals would go down by "ten folds" as well.
Metro Manila is under ECQ from Aug. 6 to 20 to stem the rising number of COVID-19 infections and to prevent the spread of the more transmissible Delta variant.