Rody set to announce new quarantine classifications

President Duterte is expected to announce new quarantine classifications tomorrow as Malacañang cautioned Metro Manila residents to temper their expectations because coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) data do not seem to support the easing of restrictions.

Presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Duterte was scheduled to return to Manila from Mindanao yesterday and meet with members of the InterAgency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

“It’s possible that the classification of areas will be announced on Wednesday because the IATF still has a meeting tomorrow (July 14) for the final recommendation to the President,” Roque said at a press briefing. “I would like to clarify that

while the President has not made a decision, we will look at the data to determine if we can ease restrictions. Maybe at this point, the data does not indicate that we can relax (quarantine measures) at least in Metro Manila, just to manage the expectations,” he added.

Roque said he was referring to the case doubling rate and critical healthcare capacity of the capital region, which has the most number of infections in the country at more than 22,000.

Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the national policy on COVID-19, said restrictions in some areas might even be tightened.

“The IATF met last Thursday and Friday and it was agreed upon that there are areas (whose quarantine measures would be escalated) considering that we observed rising severe and critical cases and at the same time, the new cases are also increasing… We saw that some of the hospitals in (Metro) Manila are being filled up,” Galvez said.

He declined to enumerate the areas but revealed that Metro Manila mayors want to remain under general community quarantine (GCQ), noting that the second phase of the government’s action plan on COVID involves the rebalancing of health and economic objectives using the “hammer and dance” theory and localizing response.

“As (Finance) Secretary (Carlos) Dominguez said, the economy is now in the tipping point, meaning the situation would be very difficult once we fail to recover. There is really a huge crisis. So, what we are doing is we visit all mayors of Metro Manila and we see how they implement the localized lockdown. In all battles, implementation is always at the ground level... If we empower our leaders, the implementation would be better because the response would be faster,” Galvez noted.

Cities like Manila, Makati and Taguig only impose lockdowns on specific establishments to preserve their economic gains. Metro Manila, which contributes a third of the country’s gross domestic product, has been under GCQ since June 1.

Under the scenario, the majority of businesses and some modes of transportation can operate partially but public gatherings remain limited.

“If we implement ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) in the whole of NCR (National Capital Region), in an entire city, the economy will suffer. We have also seen that the ECQ has its limits. Implementation by local (governments) is better because they are closer to the people,” Galvez said.

According to him, Metro Manila mayors are recommending a “hybrid” GCQ, wherein there would be restrictions in the movement of people but economic activity would continue provided that the private sector, including businesses, should take “equal responsibility” for containing the spread of the virus.

The capital region, Galvez added, should remain under a single quarantine classification because the NCR is interlocking.