By Genalyn Kabiling The healthcare system’s capacity and scientific data will be among the crucial factors that will guide President Duterte in deciding on whether to lift, modify or extend the Luzon-wide quarantine, Malacañang said Thursday. President Rodrigo Roa Duterte holds a meeting with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang on April 20, 2020. ACE MORANDANTE/PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO/ MANILA BULLETIN The President is scheduled to meet with the government task force on the coronavirus response at 6 p.m. Thursday and is expected to make a decision afterwards. Roque said that based on certain parameters, the President is expected to make a "conservative" decision on the fate of the enhanced community quarantine that is set to lapse on April 30. The President's decision parameters include establishing minimum health standards for the people, health system capacity, geographic risk of an outbreak, age and health risks, identifying the essential sectors, and the use of public transport. "'Yung pinakaunang (The first) consideration is the geographical area of where ECQ should be maintained, lifted or relaxed. Ang tanong nga natin ay sapat ba 'yung kakayanan ng health sector sa lugar na 'yun na gamutin ang posibleng magkakasakit kung ire-relax or ili-lift ang ECQ (Our question is, does the area have sufficient heath sector capacity to treat possible patients if the ECQ is relaxed or lifted?)," Roque said during a virtual press conference Thursday. "We will become very conservative, siguro ang ating Presidente at tayo, alam natin na atat na atat na tayo pero may mga lugar siguro na mataas pa ang kaso at hindi pa handa ang ating mga ospital na magbigay ng serbisyo, ay baka hindi pa ma-lift ang ECQ (and we know we are all eager but there may be some places with high number of cases and the hospitals are not yet ready so the ECQ might not be lifted)," he said. Under the proposed decision tool given to the President, Roque said there will be no relaxation of ECQ if the minimum health standards of a certain place are not met. The ECQ however may be lifted in an area with low risk of outbreak and has sufficient healthcare capacity. It may also allow restoration of public transportation. The quarantine may be modified if the area has moderate risk of outbreak and meets the minimum healthcare capacity. There may also be reduced passenger capacity in public transportation due to physical distancing. Roque noted that the country's cases of coronavirus appeared to be starting to plateau but it does not mean there is already a “flattening of the curve.” Citing the recommendations from the inter-agency task force, he also said there was a need to weigh the trade off between income and public health. On the economy, the government must consider the economic sectors that may be allowed to function, people allowed to return to work, and people who will take public transport. Health factors such as duration of infection peak, total infected, number of severe and critical cases, and death toll must also be taken into consideration. "The President will base his decision on science. He has gotten the best advice from his own Cabinet and from the private sector including the academe,” Roque said.