MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang admitted Thursday that the Philippines has yet to slow down the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) four weeks since the enforcement of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
“Sa available data po natin and April 30 is only one week away, ngayon po, sa ngayon po hindi pa po natin naflatten ang curve,” returning Palace spokesman Harry Roque said in a virtual press briefing.
To date, the Philippines has 5,453 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 349 deaths and 353 recoveries.
In mid-March, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the entire Luzon, home to about half the country’s total population, under a month-long enhanced community quarantine. His directive came just days after a bid to restrict the movement of people living and working in Metro Manila to contain the spread of the coronavirus.
The quarantine, which was initially set to lapse on April 13, was extended until April 30.
The measure stopped all public transportation and strictly enforced home quarantine protocols as work for the majority of the region’s residents was suspended.
Roque explained that the government is now exploring options to “balance” the state’s obligation to protect its people and the Filipinos’ right for livelihood.
“In an ideal world habang di pa natin nafflatten ang curve, in an ideal world, dapat ipagpatuloy ang ECQ pero ang realidad nga, kinakailangan magkaroon ng kabuhayan ang ating mga kababayan,” Roque said.
Ngayon palang naguusap na ang IATF, myembro ng gabinete, nagexplore ng options kung papaano ang gagawin,” he added.