Metro Manila likely to remain under GCQ – Año

Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 12) – Interior Secretary Eduardo Año thinks it may be best to keep Metro Manila under general community quarantine after June 15 to hold off a spike in COVID-19 infections, but Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana personally prefers shifting to a modified GCQ.

The two officials, both part of the inter-agency task force in charge of the government's COVID-19 response, spoke ahead of President Rodrigo Duterte's decision that will be announced also on June 15.

Speaking to CNN Philippines' The Source on Friday, Año admitted that the recent daily rise in the number of confirmed cases do not bode well for a relaxation of quarantine rules.

"Para sa akin, 50-50 pero mas lamang, magre-remain 'yan (Metro Manila) sa GCQ," Año said Friday.

[Translation: For me, there's a 50-50 chance but it's more likely for Metro Manila to remain under GCQ]

There are 12,916 COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, with 83 new cases reported on Thursday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also said Thursday that latest COVID-19 cases reported in the capital do not "inspire relaxation" of existing quarantine protocols.

Metro Manila was among the first regions in the country to go on lockdown, being the epicenter of the local outbreak. Most businesses went dark since mid-March until restrictions were eased in May to allow more firms to operate.

READ: IATF OKs reopening restaurant dine-in under GCQ areas

The capital region was downgraded to GCQ on June 1, which meant an easing of stay-at-home rules for workers although outside travel is still restricted.

"Ang aking pananaw kasi, although i-compare mo 'yung trend, mas mababa 'yung numero kung overall pero wala pa siyang downtrend eh, patuloy pa ring may mga fresh or new cases," the Cabinet official added. "If we are going to relax it now, baka mabulunan o madapa. Baka kung okay na tayo pero dahil niluwagan mo, bumalik na naman at magkaroon ng mas marami (na kaso)."

[Translation: In my view, although you can see that the number of cases are lower overall, there's still no downtrend since we continue to see fresh or new cases. If we are going to relax it now, we might break the progress. If we're doing okay and you ease the rules, we might fall back and see even more cases.]

Meanwhile, during the regular Laging Handa virtual briefing, Lorenzana, who also heads the National Task Force Against COVID-19, said he personally prefers that the capital region be placed under modified GCQ. But the level of quarantine restrictions will still depend on the situation in the coming days, he added.

"[A]lthough halos lahat kami ay gusto nang pumunta sa MGCQ, (pero) depende pa rin yun sa mga darating na araw, kung ano yung development ng infection sa Metro Manila," he explained

[Translation: Although most of us already want (Metro Manila) to shift to MGCQ, it still depends on what will happen in the coming days and how the infection will be developing within Metro Manila.]

[Translation: In my view, although you can see that the number of cases are lower overall, there's still no downtrend since we continue to see fresh or new cases. If we are going to relax it now, we might break the progress. If we're doing okay and you ease the rules, we might fall back and see even more cases.]

Modified GCQ would allow up to 75 percent capacity for establishments.

Año said it will still depend on the President's decision expected on Monday, but added that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is currently consulting mayors and governors regarding the fate of various local government units for June 16 onward.

The IATF is focusing on Metro Manila, Cebu City, and provinces in regions 2, 3, and 4-A, the official said.

Metro Manila mayors will also meet on Saturday to firm up their recommendation to the IATF, which will be a basis for their suggestion to the President come their Monday meeting. The DILG chief added that Metro Manila had a "unique" setup since local officials have long asked that they be treated as one unit and subject to one quarantine classification only.

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Año noted that Cebu City also remains a big concern for the task force, as it has already outnumbered the COVID-19 case tally in Quezon City, the largest in the country in terms of land area.

"Ang nakikita natin ay hindi maganda ang numero, kaya kailangan ay pag-aralan natin... Ang titingnan natin, gaano ba kapuno ang mga ospital diyan sa Cebu City? Kaya pa ba nila kung sakaling magtuloy-tuloy umakyat?," he added, noting that COVID-19 national task force chief implementer Carlito Galvez, Jr. and his deputy BCDA President Vince Dizon are inspecting facilities there.

[Translation: We're seeing that the numbers are not good so we need to study it better. We're checking how full are hospitals in Cebu City. Can they handle more patients in cases the number of infections continue to rise?]

Meanwhile, the official pointed out that Quezon province appears better off compared to the rest of Calabarzon with "very few cases."

There are 24,175 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country as of Thursday afternoon, of which 17,974 are active cases. Some 5,165 patients have recovered while 1,036 died from the disease.