Metro ready for GCQ, assures adviser
Published May 29, 2020 12:00 am
By Jeffrey Damicog
Metro Manila is ready to shift to a general community quarantine (GCQ) from a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) on June 1, assured a government medical adviser on Friday, May 29.
This picture shows a general view of traffic as Metro Manila’s financial district is seen in the background. (NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Dr. Tony Leachon, adviser to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19, explained that health metrics show that Metro Manila can be placed under a GCQ despite the 539 cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recorded on May 28—the highest single-day report in the country.
“The health metrics actually, from shifting to the GCQ, is the number one criterion,” he said during an interview over CNN Philippines.
Leachon cited that the health metrics show that there is a reduction in the viral spread, explaining that “the doubling time is about 10 days; the growth rate has been down; the new recoveries; and the death rate has been down to 17 or a single digit a few days ago.”
The adviser also pointed out that Metro Manila has fewer deaths compared to large cities like New York City, which has a 19 million population and 60,000 deaths, and Lombardy in Italy, with 16 million population and 32,000 deaths.
“We have 16 million and we have less than a thousand deaths at 921,” the adviser noted.
Leachon described the 539 cases reported on Thursday to be “an artificial rise,” which he “attributed to the backlogs, delays in submission.”
“The rest of the 7,000 backlogs, this will be finished in less than a week and we will re-integrate into the real time and granular data that we are doing right now,” he assured.
This picture shows a general view of traffic as Metro Manila’s financial district is seen in the background. (NOEL CELIS/AFP/Getty Images / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Dr. Tony Leachon, adviser to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19, explained that health metrics show that Metro Manila can be placed under a GCQ despite the 539 cases of the 2019 novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) recorded on May 28—the highest single-day report in the country.
“The health metrics actually, from shifting to the GCQ, is the number one criterion,” he said during an interview over CNN Philippines.
Leachon cited that the health metrics show that there is a reduction in the viral spread, explaining that “the doubling time is about 10 days; the growth rate has been down; the new recoveries; and the death rate has been down to 17 or a single digit a few days ago.”
The adviser also pointed out that Metro Manila has fewer deaths compared to large cities like New York City, which has a 19 million population and 60,000 deaths, and Lombardy in Italy, with 16 million population and 32,000 deaths.
“We have 16 million and we have less than a thousand deaths at 921,” the adviser noted.
Leachon described the 539 cases reported on Thursday to be “an artificial rise,” which he “attributed to the backlogs, delays in submission.”
“The rest of the 7,000 backlogs, this will be finished in less than a week and we will re-integrate into the real time and granular data that we are doing right now,” he assured.