‘NCR Plus’ under MECQ till May 14
Metro Manila and four neighboring provinces will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) up to May 14, President Duterte announced on Wednesday night. Earlier in the day, the mayors of the 17 local governments making up the National Capital Region (NCR) agreed to shorten the Metro-wide curfew—now from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.—starting May 1.
President Duterte on Wednesday night said Metro Manila and the neighboring provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal would remain under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from May 1 to 14, but “with additional opening of the economy.”
“I’m sorry that I have to impose a longer MECQ, but we need it. There has been a spike in cases and our hospitals are full,” he said in a televised address.
Also remaining under MECQ for the whole month of May are Santiago City in Isabela and the provinces of Quirino and Abra.
Placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) for entire May are Apayao, Baguio City, Benguet, Ifugao, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas, Quezon, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Davao City and Lanao del Sur.
The rest of the Philippines remains under modified GCQ.
A slide shown during Mr. Duterte’s address described the community quarantine classifications as “provisional” and “Subject to LGU (local government unit) Appeals.”
Shorter curfew
Earlier on Wednesday, Metro Manila mayors unanimously agreed to shorten the curfew in the National Capital Region (NCR). It will be from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. starting May 1.
The adjustment was made “to balance the interests of public health and the economy,” Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) General Manager Jojo Garcia said at the Laging Handa briefing.
‘Preserve the gains’
Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega and members of the independent OCTA Research team called for an extension of the MECQ in the capital region for one or two more weeks “to preserve the gains of the country’s healthcare system.”
MMDA Chair Benhur Abalos, who also chairs the Metro Manila Council (MMC), said the “hybrid” or “flex” MECQ option was also considered “to allay the fear of health workers for a possible surge” of COVID-19 cases, while addressing “the dilemma and hunger of those who have lost their jobs.”
Abalos likened a hybrid MECQ to “hitting the middle ground,” with strict border controls to avoid transmission, while allowing more businesses to reopen.
Garcia said the mayors would be deferring to the Department of Trade and Industry to decide which business establishments may be allowed to reopen partly or wholly.
Stressing the need to extend the MECQ in Metro Manila, Vega said, “we have to continue... preserving the gains that we have right now because we don’t know [yet] if we are able to suppress this virus… At this point, we are making sure that the health system capacity is there.”
Vega said the government was able to improve the healthcare system when NCR and adjacent provinces went into strict lockdown amid a surge in infections.
He cited the additional 150 hospital ward beds converted into ICU beds, hospital extensions built, more positions filled by health-care personnel, and more hospital workers deployed from the provinces.
Longer healing period
At the same briefing, OCTA Research team members Prof. Ranjit Rye and Dr. Guido David also batted for an extension of the MECQ in Metro Manila to provide it a “longer healing period” and sustain the reproduction rate of the virus at 0.8 or lower than 1.
David said the community quarantine seemed to be succeeding because the “numbers are trending in the right direction,” which means a lower virus reproduction rate, and lower positivity rates and hospital bed occupancy.
A longer MECQ “will be our exit strategy from this quarantine,” David said.
“Once we have one or two weeks of this, we will have a foundation to open up to general community quarantine which is more solid—solid enough for us to sustain for the next three to four months, just in time when [the bulk of our] vaccines start to arrive,” he added.