President Rodrigo Duterte will decide this week whether to extend the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) beyond April 30 or introduce a modified version of the lockdown, the Palace said.
The president has to make a choice soon to give time for the government to lay the groundwork for either option, Palace Spokesman Harry Roque Jr said in a briefing.
Roque said Duterte will consult with experts and look at the recommendations of the inter-agency task force spearheading the coronavirus disease or Covid-19 response.
Any decision the president will make will be based on science, the spokesman said.
Roque said presidential adviser Joey Concepcion and Finance Secretary Carlos Dominguez 3rd are gravitating toward a modified quarantine.
“The only question is whether the lockdown will be based on geographical location.
We know that there are only parts of the country with a high number of Covid cases.
So will it include entire Metro Manila? Or will it be on a town, city or barangay level?” he said.
If the president will extend the quarantine, “it’s a safer choice, but the problem is many people will still be out of work,” Roque said.
Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go yesterday also favoured the extension of the ECQ because of the unabated rise of virus cases.
As to the other cities in the country, the senator said that there is a need to know first whether there is a flattening of the curve.
The day of presidential reckoning comes at a time when the number of people recovering from the virus continues to outpace the death count.
The Department of Health (DoH) has attributed the rise in recoveries to its new directive to count patients with mild symptoms who had completed a 14-day home quarantine.
Members of the House of Representatives are split over whether to end the quarantine or modify it.
House Ways and Means Committee chairman pushed for a two-week extension.
“We’re simply not there yet, no matter how much we wish this pandemic to end.
It would be almost wilful neglect to say that the country can now reopen,” said Salceda, one of the first proponents of a Metro Manila lockdown.
Salceda said only 46,000 tests have been conducted so far, with another 80,000 tests possibly until April 30, a total of about 130,000.
He said this would represent just 0.1% of the population and that “we are most possibly missing many positive especially asymptomatic cases that are undetected and at large.”
Salceda said that out of the 5,660 confirmed cases recorded on April 16, only 3,238 were assessed, out of 7,496 possible close contacts.
Lifting the quarantine “amounts to carelessly exposing the entire population to infection, no matter what residual social distancing,” he added.
House Deputy Speaker Mikee Romero said the quarantine can be extended to ramp up mass testing.
“We must test every probable and suspect case of Covid-19 in every city, town, and province. No exceptions. No excuses. I refuse to accept any of the scenarios showing we could have community quarantine of any kind beyond the month of May. We must crush and squash the spread of Covid-19 now,” the 1-Pacman Party-list congressman said.
“Quarantine beyond May simply cannot be done given the lack of discipline, the extreme necessity of earning income, and the drive to return to normal life even if that normal would be a new one. Best efforts to test everyone in these 12 days.If 12 days is not enough, extend ECQ by 14 days,” he said. Romero pushed for a stricter lockdown by deploying military, police, reservists and civilian personnel “to as many streets and intersections as possible” to stop everyone from leaving their residences.
He also suggested a 12 noon to 6am curfew, the closure of all public markets and supermarkets to walk-ins and instead the option for deliveries of any package of food, medicine, and quarantine supplies by cadets, reservists, among others.
Another quarantine extension advocate is Agusan Del Norte 1st District Rep. Lawrence Fortun.
Fortun stressed the need for mass testing, effective contract tracing, immediate availability of medical equipment, and speedy and red tape-free distribution of assistance poor and vulnerable families.
“We definitely have not flattened the curve yet. While the spike is not as high as before, new cases are still emerging and the numbers are still increasing.
Encouragingly notable, though, is the number of recoveries surpassing deaths, and the slowing down of the spread.
But we cannot relent as the numbers still don’t advise that it’s time to drop some guards.
Otherwise, a more widespread resurgence is likely and the country’s economic standstill may even be worse and longer,” he said.
House Deputy Minority leader and Bayan Muna Rep. Carlos Isagani Zarate agreed that a “nationwide massive testing for Covid-19 is still key in any decision to lift, extend or modify” the ECQ.
Meanwhile, CT-CIS Party-list Nina Taduran and BHW Party-list Rep. Angelica Natasha Co called for a modified or selective lockdown.
Taduran acknowledged that conditions are not expected to return to normal, and she proposed that the government and private companies join in assisting workers and small businesses adjust to the post-lockdown scenario.
She suggested developing a comprehensive plan to offer workers jobs that are close to their residence and support work-from-home schemes by providing necessary equipment.