Duque: Not the right time for shift
BY JOCELYN MONTEMAYOR and GERARD NAVAL
THE Cabinet economic cluster recommended placing the entire country under COVID-19 Alert Level 1 at the soonest possible time to strengthen economic recovery and cushion the impact of the Russian-Ukraine crisis, Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said Monday night.
Under Alert level 1, all businesses and establishments, as well as the public transportation system, are allowed to operate at 100 percent capacity.
Only 39 areas, including the National Capital Region, are under Alert Level 1, until March 15. At least 60 other areas are under Alert 2. The alert levels for March 16 to 31 will likely be discussed by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management and of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) when it meets on Thursday.
Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, also on Monday night during President Duterte’s “Talk to the People” address when Chua disclosed the recommendations, said all regions in the country are “now at minimal risk case classification” after they recorded “low risk” total bed and intensive care unit utilization rates, and minimal two-week growth rate and average daily attack rate.
Yesterday, Duque said he does not believe it is time to place the whole country under Alert Level 1.
He said a shift would be possible as soon as the average cases drop to about 500 per day.
He said the required COVID-19 vaccine coverage rate of 70 percent of the population, including 80 percent of the senior citizens, must also be met first.
“Not right now. We don’t want to put to waste our achievements (against COVID-19),” said Duque.
“I work under the principle of being more prudent and more conservative,” he added.
The requirements for a city, province or region to qualify to Alert Level 1 is to have a low growth rate, low ADAR, low hospital utilization rate, and 70 percent full vaccination of the population of an area and 80 percent full vaccination of the senior citizens in an area. All requirements should be present.
Duque, on Monday night, said that as of March 7, the seven-day growth rate of the country was -31 percent while the two-week growth rate was -59. The ADAR was 1.0 while the COVID bed and ICU utilization rates were 19.23 percent and 25.72 percent, respectively.
He attributed the low COVID-19 case numbers to the vaccination and the population protection.
“Iyung ating (Our) vaccination was the game-changer above all,” he said explaining the country has been recording less than 1,000 cases daily for the past days and about 92 percent to 94 percent of those who contracted COVID-19 were mild or asymptomatic cases.
As of March 7, around 63.79 million or 71.467 percent are fully vaccinated while 10.6 million have received their booster shots.
Duque, in a radio interview yesterday, said, “We don’t want these widespread lockdowns because of its adverse effects on the economy.”
“That time will come once we reach the 500 cases per day in the coming weeks, while our vaccine coverage for the target population and senior citizens increase further. This can result to the further easing of restrictions and allow the economic activities to recover,” added Duque.
Asked if his position is shared by other members of the IATF-EID members, he said, “All policies approved by the IATF-EID have the blessing of the whole IATF-EID.”
Chua said the economic development cluster met Monday to discuss the crisis and how to alleviate its impact, and came up with 14 measures.
“The first is on the overall economy is to shift to Alert Level 1 at the soonest possible time for the entire country and open all the schools for face-to-face learning to increase our domestic economy and offset the external risks,” he said.
He said while the country cannot prevent the possible impact of the crisis brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, the government could cushion it by strengthening the domestic economy to provide the people with more jobs and opportunities.
Other measures recommended by the economic cluster to cushion the impact of the Russia-Ukraine conflict is to provide another round of fuel subsidy for public transport drivers as well as the farmers and fisherfolk this March and in April.
Chua said they recommended raising the P2.5-billion fuel subsidy for the transport sector to P5 billion, and the fuel discount vouchers for farmers and fisherfolk to P1.1 billion from P500 million.
He said another proposal is to increase the country’s oil buffer stock from the current 30 to 45 days and the buffer stock of liquefied petroleum gas from 7 to 15 days. It, however, requires new laws.
Chua said other proposed measures are the lowering or extending of current tariffs for some imported commodities like rice, corn, and pork until December 2022 to ensure adequate supply and lower price.
IMPROVED SITUATION
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, also on Monday night, said only 37 areas nationwide are under granular lockdown, down from 187 a week ago, because of the improved COVID-19 situation in the country.
These areas are within 24 cities and municipalities.
He said 31 of the areas under lockdown are in the Cordillera Administrative Region, four in the Ilocos region, and two in the National Capital Region.
Año also reported to the President that 44,521 individuals were accosted for not wearing face mask from February 27 to March 5. He said the number is 25.36 percent lower from the previous week. He also said 14,499 other individuals were accosted for not observing physical distancing during the period, which is 29.14 percent lower compared to the previous one-week period.
But Año reported a 57.85 percent increase in the number of people accosted for mass gathering. There were 352 individuals apprehended for involvement in mass gathering from February 27 to March 25.
Año said there was also an increase in the amount of illegal drugs seized from February 27 to March 5, compared to the previous week.
“This could have been due to the eased restrictions. There’s increase mobility, people can now move (freely) and this can be taken advantage of by illegal drug traders,” said Año.
Presidential candidate Sen. Panfilo Lacson said he is in favor of placing the entire country under Alert Level 1 so the battered economy can recover.
“That said, our government authorities must also be prepared for the next pandemic or any variant that might again endanger the health situation in the country. As I always say, there is no trade-off between health and economy. We must always be prepared to confront the problems affecting both. We cannot afford a repeat of 2020 when the government was caught unprepared,” Lacson said. — With Victor Reyes and Raymond Africa
