Department of Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año said Friday that Metro Manila would most likely remain under GCQ (general community quarantine) after June 15.
Año, in a televised interview, noted that the National Capital Region continues to record “fresh” coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases after ii shifted to GCQ.
“Ang aking pananaw kasi although compared mo ‘yung threat, kumbaga mas mababa ‘yung numero kung overall pero wala pa sa downtrend eh. Patuloy pa ring may mga fresh o new cases,” Año told CNN.
(For me, although the numbers are lower compared to the overall total, there is still no downtrend. Fresh or new cases are continually recorded.)
“If we are going to relax it now, baka madapa eh. Ibig sabihin okay na tayo pero niluwagan mo, bumalik na naman o nagkaroon ng mas maraming [cases]. Para sa akin 50/50 pero mas lamang magreremain sa GCQ,” he added.
(If we are going to relax it now, we could fall. It means we are doing fine then we eased the quarantine, we now have more cases. For me, it’s 50/50, but most likely, we would remain in GCQ.)
Año, however, clarified that the final decision Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on whether to extend or lift the GCQ in Metro Manila would be announced on Monday.
Also read: UP experts project 40,000 COVID-19 cases by June 30
Currently, concerned government agencies are still evaluating and studying the latest trends in coronavirus cases.
“Sa ngayon, inaanalyze natin ‘yung mga data, mayroon tayong initial na nakitang mga recommendation pero ang ginawa natin ay kinokonsulta din natin sa mga local chief executives para din makita nila kung ano ‘yung kanilang recommendation din,” he said.
(We are still analyzing the data. We saw an initial recommendation, but we are still consulting with local chief executives so they could also see our recommendation.)
Aside from the NCR, the Interior secretary said the national government is also monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Regions II, III, IV-A, and in Cebu City, where there is an increase in the number of infections in the recent days.
Meanwhile, experts from the University of the Philippines (UP) projected that the total number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the Philippines would reach 40,000 by June 30.