ECQ ‘wasted’ as gov’t still has no clear plans – doctors

MANILA, Philippines — The Healthcare Professionals Alliance Against COVID-19 (HPAAC) said the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) was “wasted” since the long-term changes necessary to prevent another surge of COVID-19 cases were not implemented.

“We re-emphasize that this mobility restriction is but a short-term intervention and yet it seems to have been wasted again,” said the group of doctors and health workers in a statement on Sunday shortly before the government announced the lifting of the lockdown.

“The government still has no clear plans and efforts to fix the root causes and the nation continues to suffer because of this,” they said.

They said the lockdown might have slowed down the spread of the virus but “the numbers are still perilously high,” referring to record daily cases and deaths that have overwhelmed the health-care system and deprived an untold number of patients of medical care.

HPAAC said there was still no unified healthcare command for the entire Metro Manila. Authorities still fail to immediately isolate cases and quarantine contacts.