Duterte ‘inclined’ to extend Luzon-wide quarantine until April 30

Updated @11:52 p.m., April 6, 2020

MANILA, Philippines — The Duterte administration is inclined to extend the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine until April 30 as the government continues to grapple with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic, President Rodrigo Duterte said in a televised address on Monday.

“If you really want to know, we have discussed it actually even before this, we are inclined to extend the lockdown up to April 30,” Duterte said.

The Luzon-wide quarantine was originally targeted to be lifted by April 14.

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease earlier said it would listen to experts’ opinions before deciding on either lifting or extending the Luzon-wide quarantine.

According to the task force, parameters on making this decision are the following:

• trends in the COVID-19 epidemiological curve, which include, among others, the doubling time, acceleration, or deceleration of new cases
• capacity of the health care system, which includes, among others, the number and availability of quarantine, isolation, and treatment facilities; the capability to mount contact tracing; availability of personal protective equipment (PPEs) to frontliners; and the testing capacity of the country
• social factors
• economic factors
• security factors

The strict quarantine suspended public transportation, prohibited mass gatherings and even ordered the temporary closure of some businesses — excluding hospitals, groceries and drug stores, and other essential establishments.

The Philippines has so far recorded 3,660 cases of COVID-19 and 163 fatalities.

/atm