Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque. INQUIRER FILE PHOTO / JOAN BONDOC
MANILA, Philippines — It is still “premature” to speculate whether the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) status imposed in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces will be extended after April 30, Malacañang said Thursday.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said the government will weigh in COVID-19’s daily attack rate, two-week average attack rate, and health care utilization rate in making its decision.
Roque, however, noted that the rise of COVID-19 cases is slowing down already since the number of new cases in recent days does not anymore exceed 10,000.
“Well kahit papaano nakikita namin na bumababa ‘no. Hindi na tayo nagti-ten thousand ngayon pero siyempre hindi tayo satisfied diyan ‘no at tingnan muna natin hanggang matapos itong 2-week MECQ ‘no kung gaano talaga bababa ang mga kaso,” he said in a Palace briefing.
(At the very least, we are seeing a decrease in cases since new infections no longer exceed 10,000 but of course, we are not satisfied with that. We should wait after the 2-week MECQ is completed to check how low the cases will be.)
“Sa ngayon po I think premature na mag-speculate kung ano magiging classification natin. Ang importante po palagi, tingnan iyong daily attack rate, 2-week average attack rate at saka iyong healthcare utilization rate,” he added.
(For now, I think it’s premature to speculate what our quarantine classification will be. The important thing is we will consider the daily attack rate, the 2-week average attack rate and the healthcare utilization rate.)
Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, and Laguna, or the so-called NCR Plus bubble, had been placed under MECQ since April 12, until April 30, after enduring a stricter ECQ to curb the alarming rise of COVID-19 infections.
The Philippine General Hospital earlier said it is in favor of extending MECQ over NCR Plus if the number of admitted COVID-19 patients keeps piling up.
On Wednesday, the Department of Health (DOH) logged 9,227 new infections, pushing the country’s active COVID-19 cases to 116,434.
As of April 21, the Philippines has a total of 962,307 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 829,608 recoveries and 16,265 deaths.