Senate Minority Leader Franklin Drilon said Monday there must be a scientific basis should Metro Manila would shift to general community quarantine (GCQ) on June 1.
He also emphasized that 6,000 individuals tested positive for the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS–CoV–2) that needs validation.
“They may be silent carriers who unknowingly spread the virus. Where are they?” Drilon asked.
“The confidence of our people on the handling of COVID-19 has eroded because of the lapses of the DOH, primarily by Sec. Duque, and the violations committed by the implementors of the lockdown,” he added.
Last week, DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III made a controversial statement that the Philippines is now experiencing the second wave of the outbreak, a claim Senator Migz Zubiri called “ridiculous.”
Duque also said the World Health Organization has no evidence yet if asymptomatic COVID-19 patients are contagious as he defends the government for not conducting mass testing but targeted testing.
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Dr. Anthony Leachon, Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) adviser, also said the DOH’s report on COVID-19 cases is not real-time, as he explains the epidemic curve status of the Philippines.
Leachon also said the Philippines had not flattened the COVID-19 curve, contrary to what IATF epidemiologist Dr. John Wong said.
A Filipino scientist recommended lockdown extension, citing the Philippines needs two to three to flatten the curve or lessen the number of COVID-19 cases in the country.
Dr. Darwin Bandoy, Assistant Professor of the University of California, Davis, in an interview with ANC, said the pandemic cases in the Philippines could reach as high as 250,000 cases in a do-nothing situation.
He also opposed the opening of schools as of the moment “because, based on several studies, opening schools would promote further spread of the disease.”
Metro Manila, Cebu City, Laguna, and other areas in Central Luzon are expected to transition to GCQ after May 31.