The adviser of the national task force handling the country’s pandemic response believes that enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) needs to be extended in Metro Manila and 4 neighboring provinces to control the spread of COVID-19.
The ECQ, the strictest of the government’s 4 lockdown levels, is set to end on April 4, implemented in virus hotspots Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal. This was in response to the proliferation of new COVID-19 cases.
“Kung ako ang tatanungin lang, siyempre iyong health side maganda ay tuloy-tuloy, in fact, baka more than one week pa nga hanggang bumababa iyong reproductive number,” said Dr. Ted Herbosa, adviser of National Task Force Against COVID-19.
Aside from the increase in cases, some hospitals in NCR have also said recently that their capacity is full and there is also a shortage of health workers.
If the OCTA Research Group is also asked, it would have been better if the lockdown in NCR and neighboring provinces could have been extended for another week.
Not only will this result in a lower reproduction number, they say, but it will also address some problems such as contact tracing.
Pandemic task force adviser favors extending ECQ in NCR bubble
“The contact tracing capacity has pretty much collapsed over the past few weeks because of the sheer number of cases. So we need a timeout to refresh our contact tracing to build new isolation and quarantine facilities,” said Fr. Nicanor Austriaco of OCTA.
“This will allow us to exit the lockdown with decreasing but still high numbers that we can manage properly without risking another surge,” he added.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire is aware that the government’s pandemic response is not perfect.
“We’re are not saying that we are excellent sa ginawa nating response na ito. Marami pa po tayong kakulangan,” said Vergeire.
“Pero as long as we can keep cases for this low, as long as we can still manage the severe cases in our hospitals, ‘yan ang pinakabatayan natin para masabi na kayang-kaya natin na makalagpas dito sa obstacle ng kaso na meron tayo sa ngayon,” she said.