NCR lockdown? Año says maybe if COVID-19 alert hits Code Red Sub-Level 2

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila may only be isolated from the rest of the country if the health alert level for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reaches Code Red Sub-Level 2.

This was the explanation of Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año on Tuesday amid calls to place the National Capital Region on lockdown following the seemingly rapid increase in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases.

“Pagka-dumating tayo sa Sub-Level 2 ng Code Red, ito ‘yung confirmed na ‘yung tinatawag natin na community transmission, dun tayo pwede mag-lockdown, mag-stop na ng [classes], mag-suspend ng work,” Año said during the sidelines of the Metro Manila Council meeting.

(When we reach Sub-Level 2 of Code Red, this means that community transmission is confirmed, that’s when we can declare a lockdown where we suspend classes and suspend work.)

“But it will be depending on the area, iba-ibang interpretation ‘yan (it has various interpretations),” Año added. “So pwedeng by local government unit (So it could be by local government unit) or adjacent LGUs or the whole province or region.”

The idea to lockdown Metro Manila was floated by Albay 2nd District Rep. Joey Salceda, who proposed that work in the nation’s capital region be suspended for one week while classes must be postponed for at least a week or until the end of the school year in April.

But President Rodrigo Duterte was not amenable to the suggestion, saying it’s “too early” to cut off Metro Manila from the rest of the country at this point.

The Department of Health (DOH) previously raised Code Red Sub-Level 1 as it confirmed the Philippines’ first local transmission of COVID-19: when the 59-year-old woman contracted the disease from her 62-year-old husband, who has no recent travel to countries stricken by the novel coronavirus but might have gotten the infection after his supposed encounter with a foreign visitor.

To date, the Philippines has 24 confirmed cases of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in China’s city of Wuhan in Hubei province in late 2019.

The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.

Coronavirus is a family of viruses, which surfaces have a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.

KGA