‘Pasang awa’: Palace says Metro Manila barely retains GCQ status

Commuters wait for a scarce public ride along Commonwealth Avenue in Quezon City. (Grig C. Montegrande/Inquirer)

MANILA, Philippines — Malacañang on Tuesday said Metro Manila barely stayed under the general community quarantine (GCQ) as it nearly missed the ideal seven-day COVID-19 case doubling time.

“If I were to be candid, it looks like Metro Manila only got a mercy grade (pasang awa) that’s why we remain under GCQ,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in an interview over CNN Philippines’ The Source.

According to Roque, the National Capital Region (NCR) now has a doubling time of 6.9, lower than most areas’ 10 days but still enough to warrant an extension of the more lenient GCQ for two more weeks.

“We’re looking at seven-day doubling case rate, wherein it would take seven days for cases to double in size. But the problem is Metro Manila barely made it to seven days,” Roque said.

“One thing going for Manila is we have about 30 percent critical care utilization rate, which means we still have about 70 percent capacity in Metro Manila, which explains why the decision was to remain in GCQ,” he added.

President Rodrigo Duterte late Monday night approved the recommendation of the Inter-agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to extend the GCQ in Metro Manila and 24 other areas in the country until June 30.

Aside from Metro Manila, also under GCQ are:

• Cagayan Valley Region: Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Santiago City
• Central Luzon: Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Tarlac, Olongapo City
• Calabarzon: Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon
• Mimaropa: Occidental Mindoro
• Central Visayas: Bohol, Cebu, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Mandaue City, and Lau-Lapu City
• Mindanao: Davao City and Zamboanga City

The rest of the country is under the most lenient modified general community quarantine except for Cebu City and Talisay City, which are both placed under strict quarantine measures.

Currently, there are 26,420 COVID-19 cases nationwide, including 6,252 recoveries and 1,098 deaths.

Of the total infection, 13,694 or nearly 52 percent were recorded in Metro Manila.