and VICTOR REYES
THE Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (AITF-EID) will meet today to assess whether the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will be totally or partially lifted, sustained or expanded, or limited to certain places when it ends on April 30, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said on Sunday.
The IATF will likewise finalize post-lockdown or bounce-back plans to hasten the country’s return to normalcy.
The group will also tackle a lockdown re-imposition scenario in case coronavirus infections surge anew when the lockdown is lifted.
“Hopefully, we will have consensus and whatever the results, we will show to President Duterte our recommendations, and ultimately it will be President Duterte who will decide. We in the IATF will just give some guidance, option,” Nograles, who is also the concurrent IATF spokesman, said.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said epidemiologists, scientists and mathematicians will give President Duterte and government leaders a briefing make their presentations during the Monday meeting.
“They are going to present to us what we call the COVID-19 disease epidemiology. We are going to take into consideration whatever recommendation and conclusion that they would present,” said Año, adding any IATF recommendation will take into consideration the health system capacity, and economic and social impacts
Año said the task force may submit its recommendation to the President on April 25.
Nograles said among the discussions in today’s meeting will be whether to lift the lockdown on April 30 or to declare a partial or “phase by phase” lifting as some sectors have suggested.
Under a phase-by-phase lifting, the lockdown will be lifted in certain areas which could be based on the companies that would resume operations and the number of people that need to work, and the services that could be resumed like selected modes of public transportation.
Asked if the country can still afford another extension, Nograles said the Congress is discussing the preparation of a stimulus package while economic officials are drawing up a recovery program.
He reiterated that the Philippines can resort to borrowing and if needed selling of assets.
Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana, also a member of the IATF-EID, said “the trend of COVID cases appearing everyday will be the final determinant” on whether the ECQ will be extended or lifted.
“That’s why these last 11 days of April are crucial in the decision-making process. We should see a tapering off or downward trend to warrant partial lifting or continue with the lockdown if the trend continues to go up,” said Lorenzana.
Año said extending the coverage of the ECQ to include other areas outside Luzon is also possible. Some local government units in Visayas and Mindanao have declared their own ECQ after President Duterte placed the entire Luzon under such state on March 17.
“That’s also an option. Right now, because only Luzon is under lockdown, we give the discretion to the local government units as long as they are consulting with the Department of Health and with the DILG,” said Año.
ZERO CONTAMINATION
Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said the government should not wait until there is zero transmission of the fatal virus before it decides on the lockdown issue.
“Critical information will be provided during the IATF meeting (Monday), so I’ll reserve my position on selective quarantines until then. Generally speaking, however, it may not be advisable to wait until the country reaches zero level of human transmission, as by then we may have hit the tipping point where it would be extremely difficult to recover from the economic and social devastation,” Guevarra said.
“We have to restart somewhere sometime, taking all necessary measures to prevent a resurgence, and imploring the aid of divine providence to get us through,” he added.
HEALTH EXPERTS
Sen. Christopher Go said that apart from the IATF recommendations, the President will also meet with experts including former health secretaries in the country to better assess the current situation and determine the next actions of government.
“The next 11 days will be very crucial. If the number of infected individuals increase, the President may consider another extension [of the ECQ], but if it goes down, the President may just impose a modified [quarantine]. There are many factors to consider–we can have a modified quarantine or selective quarantine),” Go said in an interview with radio dzBB.
Go said while the government wants to make sure that the virus contamination is contained, it likewise wants the people to have enough food on their tables, the economy will not suffer, and that medicines will be made available to the public. — With Raymond Africa and Ashzel Hachero
