Mayors in Metro Manila recommended a 30-day extension of general community quarantine (GCQ) in the capital, said Parañaque City Mayor and Metro Manila Council chairman Edwin Olivarez on Monday.
Olivarez said in a Dobol B sa News TV interview that the mayors’ meeting happened on Sunday night together with several Cabinet members.
“Doon po sa pulong, pinagkaisahan po ng lahat ng mayors na irerekomenda sa IATF na i-maintain po ‘yung GCQ, ‘yung ating general community quarantine starting September 1,” Olivarez said.
(During the meeting, all of the mayors agreed to recommend to IATF maintaining the general community starting September 1.)
“Ang pinag-uusapan po ay hindi 15 days eh, kung hindi 30 days pero ‘yan po ay recommendation po sa IATF. Pero sila po ang magrerekomenda sa Presidente,” Olivarez added.
(We were talking about 30 days, not 15 days, but that is the recommendation of IATF. They would recommend to the President.)
Olivarez said the number of days in which the GCQ would be imposed is still for discussion.
The Parañaque City Mayor explained that they based their recommendations in aiming to balance health and economy amid the COVID-19 pandemic.
“Ang pinagbasehan po niyan ay ‘yung pagbubukas ng ekonomiya nang dahan-dahan nang hindi po puwede pong i-compromise ‘yung health protocol natin dito,” Olivarez said.
(The basis of that is the opening of the economy slowly without being able to compromise our health protocol here.)
Also read: New UP COVID-19 projection: 330k to 375k cases by end-September
Metro Manila mayors want 30-day GCQ extension
Olivarez also said the Meto Manila mayors are studying on shortening the curfew to 10 pm to 5 am.
Localized or granular lockdowns would be enforced in areas where there is an increasing number of COVID-19 cases.
Metro Manila shifted to GCQ after two weeks of modified enhanced community quarantine (MGCQ) or stricter community quarantine.
The UP-OCTA research team earlier said the positivity rate has lowered from 16% to 14% in the past two weeks in Metro Manila.
The researchers said at least nine cities are still at a critical level though Hospital bed and ICU occupancy rates in NCR also decreased.
The UP COVID-19 projection for Metro Manila is 180,000 to 210,000 COVID-19 by September 30.