Palace said Monday that Metro Manila has “even” chances on remaining to general community quarantine or shifting (GCQ) to MGCQ (modified general community quarantine).
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said while there is a downward trend in COVID-19 cases nationwide. Still, the majority of infections are concentrated in Metro Manila.
Roque said there would be new quarantine classifications in different parts of the Philippines by June 15.
“It’s an even chance I would say, but we will look at the data because you know that the center of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is Metro Manila,” Roque said at a press briefing. “So I would say that it is a safe conclusion that there would be a reclassification (of some areas) except Metro Manila, which is a different case. So I think Metro Manila will have to be examined closer to determine whether it can shift to MGCQ next week.”
He said it is still possible that the next Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases would be held at Davao City since President Rodrigo Duterte has been there since May 30.
“Whether it be in Manila or Davao, he continues to discharge his function, including meeting with select members of the IATF as usual,” the Palace spokesman said.
Also read: Church warns public against ‘holy’ alcohol, face masks
Metro Manila has ‘even’ chances of shifting to MGCQ-Palace
Of the 21,985 COVID-19 cases recorded in the country, 12,000 is from Metro Manila.
Ted Herbosa, the government’s special adviser and executive vice president of the University of the Philippines on June 1, said the number of fresh cases COVID-19 cases in the Philippines is “really going down.”
“We really are in the deceleration of the curve, but I don’t know if we are just plateauing because the other number we look at is the time-varying reproductive number. I think that’s hovering around 1. We want that number to be really low,” he said.
Roque, however, reminded the public not to be complacent despite the slower doubling time of coronavirus infections.
“We have to be careful because it may still increase if we do not observe social distancing, wear masks and stay healthy,” the Palace spokesman said.
“But we cannot, for instance, do something about transportation because we are still in community quarantine. So we want to see more employers allowing their employees to work from home so we won’t have a shortage in transportation,” he added.