Some Metro Manila cities may be under GCQ after May 15 – Palace
Published May 7, 2020 12:00 am
By Genalyn Kabiling and Analou De Vera
The government may place some cities in Metro Manila under general community quarantine (GCQ) when the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) ends on May 15, depending on certain health conditions, Malacañang said Thursday.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr.(CAMILLE ANTE / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said quarantine restrictions may be relaxed if there will be a slowdown in the cases of coronavirus and there is adequate health system capacity of local government units.
But the Department of Health (DOH) said that it is too early to say if the ECQ in certain areas will be eased by May 15, although an epidemiologist had noted indications that the country’s COVID-19 curve is starting to flatten.
“It’s very difficult to make any predictions as of now because we still have nine days,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in an interview.
“Hopefully let’s cross our fingers that no local surges will happen. But we can tell you that the data analytics group will always give us the report because they do the analysis on a very regular basis and feed into the IATF (Interagency Task Force) decision-making process,” the DOH chief added.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is scheduled to hold a meeting on Friday to tackle the country’s coronavirus situation and the government’s efforts to stem the spread of the disease.
“The ECQ will end on May 15 so I suppose it will be a few days before May 15 dahil kinakailangang magtransition din tayo to GCQ para doon sa mga areas na pupuwede nang mag-GCQ (because we have to transition to GCQ for areas that may shift to GCQ),” Roque said during a virtual press briefing Thursday, when asked about the government decision on the list of potential GCQ areas in Metro Manila.
“Kung hindi po magbabago ang datos ‘no na nagpapakita ngayon na bumabagal na iyong pagkalat at mayroon pa tayong kapasidad na magbigay ng critical care ay siguro po iyan ang direksiyon (If there is no change in the data showing a slowdown in the spread and we have the capacity to provide critical care, that may be the direction),” Roque added.
Flattening the curve
Duque said that they continue to increase the health system’s capacity as there are now indications that the country is starting to flatten the COVID-19 curve, citing the observation of epidemiologist Dr. John Wong who is working with the IATF’s subtechnical working group (TWG) on data analytics.
“While the curve has flattened, we grab that opportunity to ramp up, to raise the health system’s capacity to be able to deal with the threat,” said Duque.
Wong recently said that the doubling time of the number of cases and deaths has slowed down, saying that “from doubling every less than three days, now it is doubling around four days.” To note, the doubling time is the duration in days for cases or deaths to double.
The epidemiologist noted that even if the flattening of the curve is now being observed, it does not signify that the COVID-19 outbreak will end anytime soon, adding that mitigation measures should be properly observed to avoid resurgence of cases.
“So, this is the second wave, kasi the first wave was in January. After this flattening of the curve and then when we relax the ECQ, we will see another surge of cases, maybe a third wave,” he said.
“To prevent that third wave, we have to observe all the mitigation measures, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and frequent cleaning,” he added.
But Wong said the pandemic will only stop when a vaccine for COVID19 is already developed. “We still cannot say that we’ve won the battle against COVID-19 until we have a vaccine,” he said.
Bear with quarantine rules
Roque also urged the public anew to bear with the quarantine regulations a little longer to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“Kaya nga po ang pakiusap ko sa mga nalalabing araw – konting tulog naman po ito – manatili po sa ating mga tahanan nang hindi po mahirapang magbigay ng desisyon ang IATF na baguhin na ang ECQ, lalung-lalo na sa Metro Manila (So my appeal is with the remaining days left, a few sleeps left, let us stay at home so the IATF won’t have difficulty deciding on changing the ECQ especially in Metro Manila),” he said.
Roque made the remarks after Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año bared that some Metro Manila cities may shift to GCQ from ECQ next week due to improving health situation. Among the areas with improving health condition are San Juan City and Valenzuela City, Año said in a television interview.
The President earlier signed Executive Order No. 112 imposing ECQ in Metro Manila and several other highrisk areas in the country until midMay. The ECQ regulations, including home quarantine except for essential activities, suspension of public transportation and school classes, and ban on large gatherings, have displaced more than two million workers as a result of temporary closure or scaled down operations of companies.
A more relaxed GCQ, on the other hand, is in effect in several areas with low and moderate risk of the coronavirus spread. The government has allowed public transportation to resume operations at reduced capacity as well as several businesses and services to reopen subject to health protocols.
The IATF may lift the GCQ in lowrisk places after May 15 provided no deterioration in risk level occurs.
While the quarantine measures are in place, Roque said the government has continued to improve the country’s healthcare capacity in terms of testing and isolating the coronavirus cases.
“Importante na sa puntong ito, we are at the verge of at least trying to restart the economy ay ma-locate, ma-isolate at ma-cure iyong mga may sakit, na magagawa lang natin through mass testing (It is important that at this point, we are at the verge of at least trying to restart the economy, we must isolate, cure the infected which can be done through mass testing),” he said.
“As we come closer to May 15, we would have a better picture. Ang importante po, number of respirators, number of critical care beds at saka number of We Heal As One Centers kung saan natin pupuwedeng mailagay iyong mga hindi na kinakailangan na maospital na positibo sa COVID-19 (It is important to have number of respirators, number of critical care beds, We Heal As One Centers where he can place the COVID-19 positive patients),” he said.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr.(CAMILLE ANTE / MANILA BULLETIN FILE PHOTO)
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said quarantine restrictions may be relaxed if there will be a slowdown in the cases of coronavirus and there is adequate health system capacity of local government units.
But the Department of Health (DOH) said that it is too early to say if the ECQ in certain areas will be eased by May 15, although an epidemiologist had noted indications that the country’s COVID-19 curve is starting to flatten.
“It’s very difficult to make any predictions as of now because we still have nine days,” said Health Secretary Francisco Duque III in an interview.
“Hopefully let’s cross our fingers that no local surges will happen. But we can tell you that the data analytics group will always give us the report because they do the analysis on a very regular basis and feed into the IATF (Interagency Task Force) decision-making process,” the DOH chief added.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is scheduled to hold a meeting on Friday to tackle the country’s coronavirus situation and the government’s efforts to stem the spread of the disease.
“The ECQ will end on May 15 so I suppose it will be a few days before May 15 dahil kinakailangang magtransition din tayo to GCQ para doon sa mga areas na pupuwede nang mag-GCQ (because we have to transition to GCQ for areas that may shift to GCQ),” Roque said during a virtual press briefing Thursday, when asked about the government decision on the list of potential GCQ areas in Metro Manila.
“Kung hindi po magbabago ang datos ‘no na nagpapakita ngayon na bumabagal na iyong pagkalat at mayroon pa tayong kapasidad na magbigay ng critical care ay siguro po iyan ang direksiyon (If there is no change in the data showing a slowdown in the spread and we have the capacity to provide critical care, that may be the direction),” Roque added.
Flattening the curve
Duque said that they continue to increase the health system’s capacity as there are now indications that the country is starting to flatten the COVID-19 curve, citing the observation of epidemiologist Dr. John Wong who is working with the IATF’s subtechnical working group (TWG) on data analytics.
“While the curve has flattened, we grab that opportunity to ramp up, to raise the health system’s capacity to be able to deal with the threat,” said Duque.
Wong recently said that the doubling time of the number of cases and deaths has slowed down, saying that “from doubling every less than three days, now it is doubling around four days.” To note, the doubling time is the duration in days for cases or deaths to double.
The epidemiologist noted that even if the flattening of the curve is now being observed, it does not signify that the COVID-19 outbreak will end anytime soon, adding that mitigation measures should be properly observed to avoid resurgence of cases.
“So, this is the second wave, kasi the first wave was in January. After this flattening of the curve and then when we relax the ECQ, we will see another surge of cases, maybe a third wave,” he said.
“To prevent that third wave, we have to observe all the mitigation measures, physical distancing, hand hygiene, and frequent cleaning,” he added.
But Wong said the pandemic will only stop when a vaccine for COVID19 is already developed. “We still cannot say that we’ve won the battle against COVID-19 until we have a vaccine,” he said.
Bear with quarantine rules
Roque also urged the public anew to bear with the quarantine regulations a little longer to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
“Kaya nga po ang pakiusap ko sa mga nalalabing araw – konting tulog naman po ito – manatili po sa ating mga tahanan nang hindi po mahirapang magbigay ng desisyon ang IATF na baguhin na ang ECQ, lalung-lalo na sa Metro Manila (So my appeal is with the remaining days left, a few sleeps left, let us stay at home so the IATF won’t have difficulty deciding on changing the ECQ especially in Metro Manila),” he said.
Roque made the remarks after Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año bared that some Metro Manila cities may shift to GCQ from ECQ next week due to improving health situation. Among the areas with improving health condition are San Juan City and Valenzuela City, Año said in a television interview.
The President earlier signed Executive Order No. 112 imposing ECQ in Metro Manila and several other highrisk areas in the country until midMay. The ECQ regulations, including home quarantine except for essential activities, suspension of public transportation and school classes, and ban on large gatherings, have displaced more than two million workers as a result of temporary closure or scaled down operations of companies.
A more relaxed GCQ, on the other hand, is in effect in several areas with low and moderate risk of the coronavirus spread. The government has allowed public transportation to resume operations at reduced capacity as well as several businesses and services to reopen subject to health protocols.
The IATF may lift the GCQ in lowrisk places after May 15 provided no deterioration in risk level occurs.
While the quarantine measures are in place, Roque said the government has continued to improve the country’s healthcare capacity in terms of testing and isolating the coronavirus cases.
“Importante na sa puntong ito, we are at the verge of at least trying to restart the economy ay ma-locate, ma-isolate at ma-cure iyong mga may sakit, na magagawa lang natin through mass testing (It is important that at this point, we are at the verge of at least trying to restart the economy, we must isolate, cure the infected which can be done through mass testing),” he said.
“As we come closer to May 15, we would have a better picture. Ang importante po, number of respirators, number of critical care beds at saka number of We Heal As One Centers kung saan natin pupuwedeng mailagay iyong mga hindi na kinakailangan na maospital na positibo sa COVID-19 (It is important to have number of respirators, number of critical care beds, We Heal As One Centers where he can place the COVID-19 positive patients),” he said.