MANILA – The Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) could be downgraded to a “selective quarantine” if the current lockdown against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) will be successful.
According to Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., the government could possibly enforce such policy is massive testing, an increased recovery rate and lower fatality rate of COVID-19 patients, and increased capacity of local health units were achieved.
“Let us not waste our efforts and gains that we achieved during the past three weeks under ECQ,” Galvez said. “Maaari pong magkaroon ng selective quarantine kung magiging maayos po ang ating pagsunod sa ECQ.”
Business leaders earlier urged the government to take into consideration a barangay-level quarantine to allow the manufacturing, construction, agriculture industries to operate.
Galvez, however, said that aggressively targeted widespread testing, which is slated to start on Tuesday, would be a “gamechanger” in the government’s COVID-19 response.
“Kapag natapos natin ang large-scale na testing sa mga priority testing areas sa National Capital Region ay ma-sa-satisfy na natin ang implementation ng ating istratehiya – detect, isolate, and treat the patients,” Galvez said.
“‘Yung datos na po ang magiging basehan upang maiwasan nating malaganap ang tinatawag nating second wave o pagtaas na naman ng new cases at saka cases ng deaths,” he further said.
Galvez noted that there are over 4,400 quarantine control points manned by some 60,000 uniformed personnel across the country.
“Kung hindi natin naisagawa ng ECQ, maaaring umabot tayo ng mahigit na 140,000 to 550,000 cases mula Abril hanggang Hunyo ayon sa pag-aaral ng mga expert natin sa University of the Philippines at sa international community,” Galvez said./PN
