MANILA – President Rodrigo Duterte has thumbed down the proposal to shift the National Capital Region (NCR) to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) by March.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said last night President Duterte will not shift Metro Manila to less strict MGCQ without a rollout of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) vaccine.
“The Chief Executive recognizes the importance of re-opening the economy and its impact on people’s livelihoods. However, the President gives higher premium to public health and safety,” Roque said.
“The President also wants vaccination to start the soonest possible time in order to ease the community quarantine,” he added.
Prior to that, there was a proposal from National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) to shift the entire country to MGCQ to recover from the economic impact of COVID-19 pandemic.
Part of NEDA’s proposal is to allow 75 percent seating capacity in public transportation. Persons five to 70 years old can leave their homes but not necessarily allowing them to enter malls. Another part of the proposal is to resume the pilot testing for face-to-face classes in low-risk areas.
NEDA’s proposal was supported by nine out of 17 mayors in the NCR and gained nod from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Health secretary Francisco Duque III earlier said that hospitals in Metro Manila are prepared if ever a surge in COVID-19 cases will happen in the MGCQ shift.
“So far tingin natin, kakayanin, kakayanin naman,” Duque said in an interview with CNN Philippines’ The Source on Monday. “We’ll see. The important thing is we are nimble, we are agile.”
According to Duque, Metro Manila’s health care utilization rate for COVID-19 currently stands at 34 percent, which is perceived as low-risk./PN
