Gatchalian rejects return to lockdown as cases spike

The government could expand the capacity of medical facilities in the country instead of putting Metro Manila under stricter lockdown should cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) reach the 85,000 mark by the end of the month, according to Sen. Sherwin Gatchalian.

The senator said he would rather improve the capability of hospitals to take care of patients because stricter quarantine could make things harder for a lot of people.

“Enhanced community quarantine [ECQ] is painful for us. Many of our countrymen lost their jobs and more could go hungry. If we are placed under ECQ, workers won’t be able to report for work again,” Gatchalian told reporters.

Even a return to modified ECQ could cause people to lose their jobs, he added.

For this reason, Gatchalian said he preferred expanding hospital capacity because the country’s death rate from COVID-19 was low. What was important, he added, was that severe and critical cases get the proper hospital care and their number do not go up.

“I would rather address the health system by putting up more temporary hospitals. The reason we impose ECQ or modified ECQ is so that our health system won’t be overwhelmed or reach the full capacity,” he said.

More hospitals

He added that hospital tents and temporary wards should be put up to accept mild cases and prevent them from becoming severe.

While other countries have built massive temporary hospitals exclusively for COVID-19 patients, this is something that the Philippines has not done, he noted.

Meanwhile, Gatchalian expressed dismay that the Department of Social Welfare and Development’s distribution of the second tranche of cash assistance to low income families was still beset by problems.