It is possible to further ease the quarantine restrictions in NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna, and Bulacan) in the middle of the month, Malacañang shared in a press briefing.
According to Palace spokesperson Harry Roque, Thursday, the region’s data is improving regarding its COVID-19 infection.
It is even the general community quarantine “with restrictions” on the NCR Plus bubble should last until June 30.
“For Metro Manila, the numbers are looking good. The hospital care utilization remains very low. We are at [53%] in ICU beds at isa po ‘yan sa talagang importanteng factor for escalation,” said Roque.
“So I would say in fact that based on the figures, Metro Manila Plus might be looking at a de-escalation. It might not be to [modified GCQ], but it could lead to ordinary GCQ, because ang GCQ po natin ngayon ay meron pang mga restrictions.”
Quarantine restrictions in NCR Plus might be relaxed on June 15 – Palace
With NCR Plus’s current GCQ, there are still many restrictions that aren’t in the standard GCQ, such as just 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is also scheduled to discuss this afternoon other relaxations of the COVID-19 health protocols, such as allowing the reopening of gyms.
According to Roque, those who used to be obese before the pandemic are becoming even more obese now that the operation of the said establishments is not allowed: “We will announce what the IATF’s decision will be,” he added.
The government is also monitoring the current status of those in modified enchanced community quarantine (MECQ).
Davao City was placed on the MECQ only on June 5 due to the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases in Mindanao. In addition, 14 other areas were subjected to it at the end of May.
“Other areas po na nasa MECQ ay binabantayan po talaga natin ‘yan and we are always data driven po. I do not want to speculate dahil hindi ko po nakikita ang mga datos doon sa mga other areas sa MECQ. Ang nakikita ko lang po ay ‘yung nandito sa Metro Manila,” said Roque.
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