By Clarist Zablan
(September 7, 2021) – President Rodrigo Duterte’s administration on Tuesday took back an earlier decision to ease quarantine classification in Metro Manila as health experts expressed concern over the continued rise of cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) which threatens to overwhelm the hospitals.
A government spokesman, Harry Roque, said Metro Manila will remain under a Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) status until September 15 or until after the government adopts a new experiment on using an alert level system.
“The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) deferred the pilot implementation of the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with Alert Levels System in the National Capital Region,” Roque said in a press briefing.
Also on Tuesday, the Department of Health reported a total of 18,012 daily coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the country, lower than the more than 20,000 cases in the last four straight days. The cumulative number of cases in the country has reached over 2.12 million.
A total of 161 people have died, bringing the death toll of the virus to nearly 34,500.
The department said it expects COVID-19 cases to go even higher in the next few days.
Authorities had planned to loosen the quarantine restrictions in the capital to a GCQ from September 8-30, instead focusing on smaller scale “granular” lockdowns in response to the growing COVID-19 cases in the country.
However, experts have expressed doubts on the effectiveness of such an approach in stemming the rising cases.
For instance, a team of university professors from OCTA Research warned that granular lockdowns can only work on a smaller scale, and attempting it where areas are already seeing a surge will likely cause the virus to spiral out of control.
The Philippine College of Physicians also expressed worries that easing the restrictions will place further pressure on the already overwhelmed healthcare system in the country.
Under MECQ, indoor and al-fresco dine-in services, and personal care services such as beauty salons are not allowed to operate. Religious services can be done through online video recording and transmission.
For necrological services, immediate family members are allowed to attend as long as the deceased person died of causes other than COVID-19.
(With reports from Mace Halili, News 5)
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