More Metro Manila businesses reopen on limited scale

MANILA, Philippines — More businesses partly reopened in Metro Manila on Tuesday after President Rodrigo Duterte decided to keep partial restrictions in place in and around the metropolis to suppress a surge in coronavirus infections and further expand hospital capacity.

Among the businesses that reopened on limited capacity were dine-in restaurants, fitness gyms, tutorial and review centers, personal grooming shops, and internet cafes.

Religious services continued to be permitted, but with only 10 percent of church capacity allowed.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said expanding attendance in religious gatherings from the previous limit of 10 people was among the questions resolved by the 17 Metro Manila mayors, who had recommended the extension of general community quarantine restrictions in the metropolis for one month to tackle increasing COVID-19 cases while allowing more businesses to reopen to shore up the country’s battered economy.

Quarantine levels

In a televised speech late on Monday, Duterte announced the extension of light restrictions in Metro Manila and Bulacan province for 30 days and the easing of quarantine measures in Cavite, Laguna and Rizal provinces.

Duterte, however, placed the southern city of Iligan under a mild lockdown after a rise in community infections, underscoring how COVID-19 cases have spread away from Metro Manila, the epicenter of the coronavirus outbreak in the country.

The rest of the country was placed under modified general community quarantine, the lightest quarantine level, which only requires the observance of public health standards.

In a meeting with Duterte before the President announced the new quarantine levels, Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said the daily reported coronavirus cases remained high, citing a need to intensify measures to slow the infection rate, which is the highest in Southeast Asia.

The time for cases to double has slowed to 12 to 13 days from seven days, Duque said.

Carlito Galvez Jr., a former military chief in charge of the national coronavirus task force, said the government was working to boost hospital capacity and would add 1,000 beds in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

“We need to strengthen treatment facilities, especially [intensive care units], given the possibility of an increase in severe cases once we further open the economy,” Galvez said.

UP projection fails

In his press briefing on Tuesday, Roque said the country did not reach the projection of University of the Philippines (UP) experts that COVID-19 cases would hit 250,000 by the end of August. He attributed the failure of the projection to the public’s observance of minimum health standards.

Those measures — including wearing of masks and face shields, and 1-meter social distancing — continue under the extended general community quarantine, Roque said.

He also said that the nighttime curfew in Metro Manila had been shortened to 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. from the previous 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. to allow longer business hours.

Children, the elderly and pregnant women are urged to stay at home, Roque said.

“As for quarantine passes, it’s up to [local governments] to decide if quarantine passes will still be required,” he added.

Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the temporary government body that oversees the administration’s coronavirus response, recommended the monthlong extension of the quarantine restrictions to provide stability to people’s movement and the economy.

“It’s hard if rules [are changed] every two weeks,” he said.

Thousands more infections

On Tuesday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported 3,483 additional coronavirus infections, bringing the national caseload to 224,264.

Of the new cases submitted by 93 of 110 accredited laboratories, 3,191 got sick between Aug. 19 and Sept. 1, while 206 fell ill between Aug. 1 and Aug. 18.

Metro Manila reported the most number of new infections, 1,824, followed by Laguna (223), Cavite (184), Rizal (161) and Batangas (126).

The DOH reported that 464 more patients had recovered, raising the total number of COVID-19 survivors to 158,012. The death toll, however, increased to 3,597 with the deaths of 39 more patients.

The recoveries and deaths left the country with 62,655 active cases.

—Reports from Julie M. Aurelio, Jovic Yee, AP and Reuters