THE Department of Interior and Local Government on Sunday said the status of Metro Manila, except for parts of Quezon City, will likely be downgraded to general community quarantine (GCQ), from the current enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), after May 15.
“It looks like na ga-graduate po ang Metro Manila sa May 15,” Interior Undersecretary and spokesman Jonathan Malaya said in a radio interview. “But of course, matagal-tagal pa ‘yan, that’s two weeks from now. Pero by all indications mukha pong ga-graduate na tayo at mag-GCQ na tayo (It looks like Metro Manila will graduate on May 15. But of course, that’s still two weeks from now. But by all indications, it appears we’re going to graduate and proceed to GCQ).”
Malaya did not say if other areas that are still under ECQ will also likely be placed under GCQ. As of Saturday afternoon, the NCR has registered 5,951 COVID-19 cases out of the total 8,928 cases nationwide.
If Metro Manila is downgraded to GCQ, workers can go back to work subject to minimum health standards, like the wearing of face masks and the observance of social distancing.
Malaya said there are positive data about Metro Manila meeting two important parameters needed to be downgraded to GCQ — critical care infrastructure and doubling time.
Malaya said members of the technical working group on data analytics of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) are looking into the data “almost everyday so that our decision will be based on science and latest data from the ground.”
But Malaya said some areas in Quezon City will likely remain under ECQ after May 15 due to high number of COVID-19 cases.
“Posible po na May 16 ay ma-lift na natin ‘yung ECQ sa ibang lugar sa Metro Manila, ngunit may maiiwang lugar sa Quezon City, not the entire Quezon City I think, but some portions of Quezon City will still remain under ECQ. (It’s possible that by May 16, we’ll lift the ECQ in some areas in Metro Manila but there will be areas in Quezon City, not the entire Quezon City I think, but some portions of Quezon City will still remain under ECQ),” he added.
