Palace: ‘We cannot afford another complete lockdown’

OLLOWING the biggest single-day spike of 2,434 in new coronavirus cases, Malacañang warned that the country might revert to stricter community quarantine restrictions if infections continue to spread and critical care utilization approaches a critical level.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque stressed, however, that the country “cannot afford another complete l ockdow n”.

In his regular press briefing Monday, July 6, 2020, Roque quoted the Cabinet’s economic cluster’s position against a complete lockdown.

The economic team is pushing for further relaxation of restrictions to allow the economy to recover from the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) fallout. Gross domestic product (GDP) growth was negative 2.0 percent in the first quarter, the first contraction since the Asian financial crisis in 1998.

President Rodrigo Duterte announces quarantine classifications every two weeks.

Roque said the level of quarantine restrictions for July 16 to 31 will depend on critical care utilization rate and case doubling time, among others, by July 15.

“Depende po ‘yan sa datos pagdating ng ak i nse.

Kung talagang bumaba po ang critical care capacity na hindi naman po nangyayari we are still at moderate risk, as I said earlier - at kung mapabilis po ‘yong doubling rate ay may possibility po,” Roque sai d.

“Pero sabi nga po ng economic managers, and they have gone public about this, we cannot afford another complete lockdown,” he added.

The Department of Health (DOH) reported 2,434 confirmed cases of infection on Sunday, July 5. It was the largest spike in a single day, bringing the total case count to 44,254.

DOH, in its case bulletin Sunday, attributed the spike to “increased contact among the population” as government continued to ease community quarantine measures in most parts of the country, including Metro Manila.

The National Capital

Region, or Metro Manila, is under general community quarantine (GCQ) until July 15. Under GCQ, some non-essential businesses and public transport systems are allowed to operate at a limited capacity.

Metro Manila accounts for the biggest number of Covid-19 cases in the country, followed by Central Visayas region, which includes Cebu City, the only area under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Roque said the InterAgency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases will continue to look at the critical care utilization rate and case doubling time in deciding the level of community quarantine that will be imposed in the second half of July.

Case doubling rate refers to the time that it takes for Covid-19 cases to double while critical care utilization rate refers to the number of beds and ventilators that are being used for severely or critically ill Covid-19 patients.

Roque said private hospitals have expanded their critical care capacity for Covid-19 cases while government has built quarantine centers for the mildly symptomatic patients.

“So bagama’t tumataas po ang numero, the critical care naman po has been expanded kaya nga po tayo nag-quarantine para paghandaan ‘yan,” Roque said.

Roque noted that a DOH administrative order requires NCR hospitals to allocate at least 30 percent of their beds for patients with Covid19.

“Nagpulong po ngayon ang Department of Health at lahat ng medical directors sa mga hospitals sa Metro Manila. Mayroon po tayong mandatory, pursuant to an administrative order, na 30 percent of all bed capacity, dapat po ilaan para sa Covid,” he said.

“Hindi pa po na bbreach itong 30 percent na po kasi marami po, lalong-lalo na ang mga pribadong ospital, less than 30 percent ang kanilang ina-allot po dahil doon sa kanilang absorptive capacity,” he added. (Marites Villamor-Ilano/ Jove Moya/ SunStar Philippines)