MGCQ: G OR OMG?

Reopening the economy is a prayer shared by the business community, but it behooves us to ask, at this point, if everyone is indeed on the same page when it comes to the idea of imposing the most relaxed quarantine measures in the whole of the Philippines less than two weeks from now.

G or OMG? Do we go for it or proclaim our aversion to the heavens above?

The dreaded UK variant B.1.17, which is believed to be 50 to 70 percent more contagious than the original SARS-Cov2 virus, is in the country.

“On 12 February, the Department of Health reported 19 new cases of the more transmissible variant. There are now a total of 44 cases of the B.1.17 variant in the country,” a CNN report said.

Yet we can well believe the National Economic Development Authority (Neda) when it says the urgency is there — after all, it has been almost a year since the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was imposed. Businesses are barely holding on, and so are many citizens who lost their source of income.

Transportation became limited, and mobility affected. We have had curfews and age restrictions, further decreasing economic activity everywhere.

But is a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) by 21 March the best answer?

Under the MGCQ, it is possible that tourism will open up our borders to foreign visitors. Face-to-face classes may even be allowed. For sure, businesses will get a go-signal to open anew.

Government and private sector have collaborated and cooperated with each other to help ease the economic burden on industries and businesses, but it has clearly not been enough.

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Is the country’s health system equipped to handle the numbers? Do we have enough beds and isolation facilities?

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Physical distancing is next to impossible if there is a lack of public transport.

According to Neda chief Karl Kendrick Chua, in reports, the need to “address hunger or the high rate of hunger among Filipinos” is more pronounced than ever.

With government focusing resources on vaccine procurement, the days of food and cash aid are long gone.

Speaker Lord Allan Velasco agrees with Neda as placing the entire country under MGCQ by 1 March would help “lessen the impact of Covid-19 on the economy.”

Let us suppose, perhaps for a month, businesses may get a reprieve from the previous months’ scarcity of customers — but what if a surge of Covid-19 cases happens?

Is the country’s health system equipped to handle the numbers? Do we have enough beds and isolation facilities?

Does it mean we then go back to ECQ if the virus and its variant spread nationwide?

Vaccine rollout and herd immunity will take months to be established.

How would an outbreak impact the economy anew? These, of course, are difficult to predict. We can depend on cooperation from all citizens to strictly follow the basic health protocols of mask and face shield wearing, regular hand-washing, and social distancing, but we must admit that rule-breakers and even non-believers in the dangers of Covid-19 exist. We have seen it happen at random events, parties and public transport systems.

On the other hand, we cannot live in fear. Like Japan, Vietnam and Singapore, we can learn to live with Covid-19, but before that, we must assess whether we are fully equipped to do so.

Here are some factors government must review to ensure a safe transition.

First is the dilemma of contact tracing.

Until now, this can be considered unwieldy as the compliance to the use of QR codes remains imperfect. Some malls, for example, fail to check if all their visitors do fill out the forms before they enter the establishment.

Many citizens have also been twitted for wearing their masks and shields improperly.

Next, physical distancing is next to impossible if there is a lack of public transport. Will more jeepneys be allowed under MGCQ even if they do not meet the new government requirements?

Can enforcers contain the excitement and inthe-moment unmindfulness among revelers or crowds?

Also, do we consider how citizens may still balk at going out like they did pre-pandemic when, for example, it can now be a hassle to go from one place to another because local governments do not have a uniform set of requirements?

In the spirit of cooperation, we are all called upon to reflect on all these factors and agree to help our economy flourish once again.

At the risk of a wilder outbreak, can we support this move and trust ourselves to harness that vaunted Filipino bayanihan spirit and resilience to survive?