’Selective quarantine’ possible if Luzon-wide lockdown strictly followed – Galvez

MANILA, Philippines — Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., National Task Force COVID-19 chief implementer, said Sunday night that a “selective quarantine” is possible if the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is successful.

In a virtual briefing, Galvez said such a set up would be likely if there is massive testing of suspected novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, a decrease in the rate of deaths and new cases, and an increase in capacity of local health units.

“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 (We can have a selective quarantine if we will follow the ECQ properly),” he added.

Galvez also said the imposition of the Luzon-wide quarantine has helped in controlling the spread of COVID-19 in the country.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon under enhanced community quarantine since March in a bid to control the transmission of the deadly respiratory illness. The lockdown was supposed to end by April 13, but the Chief Executive extended it until April 30.

Under the enhanced community quarantine, “strict home quarantine shall be implemented in all households; transportation shall be suspended; provision for food and essential services shall be regulated; and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures will be implemented.”

As of April 11, there are 4,467 quarantine control points in the country, according to Galvez.

Likewise, Galvez underscored the importance of aggressive and targeted testing and contract tracing.

“Ang aggressive o ‘yung targeted testing and contact tracing will be our game-changer. 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.

(The aggressive or targeted testing and contact tracing will be our game-changer. Once we finish our large-scale testing in priority areas in the National Capital Region, we can say that we have satisfied the implementation of our strategies – detect, isolate, and treat the patients.)

“Hindi tayo makaaahon sa enhanced community hanggang hindi tayo magkakaroon ng targeted testing (We cannot move forward from the enhanced community quarantine until we have targeted testing),” he added.

KGA