KEEPING IN STEP WITH ‘PANDEMIC DANCE’

Four months after placing the country in various modes of quarantines, President Duterte continues to do a great balancing act between health and the economy.

While his economic managers believe the economy is showing signs of recovery, the effects of the ongoing pandemic continue unabated, with cases still rising in several hotspots in the country.

This has thrown the President and his team into a perpetual dilemma of when to fully open up the economy and tread the path to recovery. It’s been a roller-coaster ride so to speak.

The past few days saw the country’s total infections rising to over 58,850 cases with 20,979 recoveries and 1,614 deaths.

Yet, despite these scary figures, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said there is nothing to worry as testing capacity has gone up to 11 million. He added that local laboratories have a maximum capacity of 74,304 tests per day, although this has not been maximized.

The country, he pointed out, has an additional 10 million RT-PCR tests and about 250,000 more rapid test kits available. With over 800,000 individuals tested so far, Roque expressed confidence that the government is winning the fight against the new coronavirus.

After the 0.2 percent economic contraction during the first three months of the year — which included thefirsttwo weeks of a Luzon-wide lockdown — the economy seems to be en route to a gradual recovery, the economic team, meantime, says.

“The monthly data coming out on trade, on production are actually starting to show improvements. From the deepest contraction in April, we are seeing still a contraction in May, but improving,” Acting Socioeconomic

Planning Secretary

“Indeed, opening up the entire country only to see a big surge in infections would put everybody in great peril.

Karl Kendrick Chua explained during a pre-State of the Nation Address forum.

A significant part of the economy has been loosened up since Luzon was first put on lockdown middle of March. These, the team says, are important elements to suggest that the economy is starting to recover.

How soon or how fast the country reaches positive territory, according to Chua, will depend on how we will proactively respond with the recovery program and how the public will react by cooperating, maintaining minimum health standards and ensuring that they care for each other.

In his public address aired on state television, the President said the country must be “circumspect” in gradually opening the economy to curb the spread of the coronavirus. As the country remains on the first wave of transmission, Duterte admitted it would be difficult to deal with a sharp surge in infections due to the government’s limited funds.

“We have to be very circumspect in the opening of the economy. Dahan-dahan lang (It must be gradual). If ever there is going to be a spike again, kung marami ang infected, or reinfected, at least calibrated numbers of people allowed to go out will still be at manageable numbers,” the President said. Indeed, opening up the entire country only to see a big surge in infections would put everybody in great peril. We will be hard pressed unlike other first world countries that can afford to loosen their lockdowns and fully reopen their economies despite the raging pandemic. Another wave of infections could be very costly. Besides, unlike Japan, South Korea, China and the United States, we don’t have the money.

“Af

ter the 0.2 percent economic contraction during the first three months of the year… the economy seems to be en route to a gradual recovery.

But we should share the government optimism. The cases can keep on rising, but as long as we are protecting the vulnerable, as long as all of us are observing minimum health standards, and as we expand our testing, tracing and treatment, we can live with COVID-19. Some will say we need to “dance” with COVID-19 because it’s part of Filipino culture.

As Roque himself said: When you have to live with something, just dance. That’s what we’ll do — we’ll dance”

Okay, dance if we must. After all, we are all in this together.