Health Secretary Francisco Duque III supports extending modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for another week or two to further lower the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
“Tingin ko kailangan ipagpatuloy ang MECQ for another week or two dahil nga ang health systems capacity natin, hindi masyadong nag-iimprove pa sa ngayon,” Duque said in a radio interview.
(I think MECQ should be extended for another week or two because our health systems capacity is yet to significantly improve.)
“Iyong ibang siyudad [sa Metro Manila], critical pa ang risk classification ng kanilang ICU (intensive care unit),” he added.
(The COVID-19 ICU capacity of hospitals in some cities in Metro Manila is still at a critical level.)
According to Duque, the IATF will meet today to decide whether the MECQ protocol—which would be until April 30—will be extended or otherwise.
“There will be a new recommendation from the sub-technical working group on data analytics. What we are looking at is the number of cases per 100,000 population,” he added.
The total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is almost 1 million.
Duque wants MECQ extended in NCR Plus
The Department of Health (DOH) this Sunday recorded 8,162 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the total to 997,523.
According to ABS-CBN Data Analytics, on April 15, the Philippines reached 900,000 marks and on Monday it may reach 1 million, especially since the daily reported cases in the country are still high.
The DOH also reported 20,509 newly recovered from the disease for 903,665 total recoveries while the death toll hit 16,783 due to 109 additional deaths from the disease.
Because of those who recovered and died, there are now 77,075 active cases in the country, based on data from the department.
Worldwide, the total number of COVID-19 cases is 146.4 million, of which more than 3 million have died, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center.
Meanwhile, fourteen of the 17 local government units (LGUs) in Metro Manila recorded negative growth rates in COVID-19 cases in the past week, according to the OCTA Research Group.
According to Dr. Guido David, OCTA fellow, this does not mean that the trend of cases is down, but it can be considered a good indicator.
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