Back to MECQ
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte, on Sunday night, 2 August, once again placed the National Capital Region (NCR) and the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) effective today, 4 August.
The decision was in response to the distress call made by health care workers who said the Philippine health care system is already overwhelmed from the number of patients being admitted and the number of health care workers getting sick. They also said many of them are burnt out and discouraged from the seemingly endless number of COVID-19 patients getting admitted in hospitals.
In a letter addressed to National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) chief implementer Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr. and Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, the medical community asked for the return of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Mega Manila from 1 to 15 August in order to recalibrate strategies against COVID-19.
In response, the government quickly convened a meeting with representatives from the Philippine Medical Association, Philippine Nurses Association and Philippine Association of Medical Technologists to discuss the concerns of the medical community amid the challenges of COVID-19. The meeting was held same day in the afternoon after the medical community’s press conference in the morning.
I was present in the said meeting together with Secretary Duque, Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, Trade and Industry Secretary Ramon Lopez, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles, Secretary Galvez, NTF Deputy chief implementer Secretary Vivencio Dizon and other senior government officials.
After the said initial meeting, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea convened another meeting the night of 1 August with key members of the Cabinet where we discussed the concerns of the medical community, after which our recommendations were immediately submitted to the President. It was recommended that instead of ECQ, NCR and the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan will be placed back under MECQ in order to keep some parts of the economy open while once again imposing stricter quarantine measures.
Aside from President Duterte’s approval of the new quarantine classification for NCR and the four mentioned provinces, the Chief Executive likewise agreed to the hiring of additional health care workers to augment the current workforce, including enlistment to the Armed Forces of the Philippines and calling to active duty army and police reservists.
It was also announced that health care workers will be provided additional benefits, such as risk allowance for private sector health care workers treating COVID-19 patients,
P10,000 to P15,000 for every health care worker who gets sick with COVID-19, free life insurance, free accommodation, free transportation and free and frequent testing.
To ensure minimized movement under MECQ, the recommendation to issue work and quarantine passes was likewise approved. Further, local government units and the COVID-19 CODE
Teams were directed to intensify the localized lockdown strategy and the implementation of “Oplan Kalinga.”
It was also reiterated that the guidelines for minimum health standards will be strictly enforced and intensified, while giving 20 million masks for the poor. Lastly, on the issue of failure of case finding and isolation partly due to the use of rapid test in finding COVID-19 positive patients, the President approved the use of RT-PCR testing as the gold standard.
To our health care workers, we all acknowledge your importance in our fight against COVID-19. As the President himself said, we know that you are bone-weary, we are grateful for your sacrifices, but we ask you to have a little more patience. Without you, who else can we turn to?
With COVID-19 as the enemy, you, our beloved health care workers, are our first line of defense. This is a battle where you are on the frontlines because this is what you have been trained for. We all depend on you on that regard, while we at the government can only support you on the sidelines. Let us continue battling against the virus and this dreaded disease side by side because that is the only way that we can heal as one.
We are one Team Philippines.
“Let
us continue battling against the virus and this dreaded disease side by side because that is the only way that we can heal as one.
“
It was recommended that instead of ECQ, NCR and the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan will be placed back under MECQ in order to keep some parts of the economy open.