Philippines can’t afford another lockdown, but decision dependent on critical care, case doubling rate – Palace

July 6, 2020

The Philippines could not afford another lockdown amid the rising number of coronavirus cases, Malacañang said on Monday.

In a virtual press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, however, said that "stricter quarantine" could still be imposed if the critical care capacity is exhausted and the COVID-19 case doubling rate surges.

"We don't have any alternative but to open our economy. We've seen the impact of COVID-19 if we don't open (the economy)...we might die because we don't have livelihood," he said.

He said the government should make a balancing act.

Asked if reversal to stricter quarantine measure would no longer be an option by the government, Roque said, "I'm not saying that, because if the situation really worsens and we lose the critical care capacity or the case doubling rate cannot be handled anymore, we don't have any alternative."

Thus, he reiterated the government's call to the public to observe the minimum health standards, such as wearing of masks, observance of social distancing, frequent washing of hands and to remain healthy.

"If we return to stricter quarantine, we might no longer have any job. So, it's important for us to use the weapons, which we know are effective to slowdown the infection," Roque stressed.

The Department of Health reported on Sunday there were 2,434 new COVID-19 cases, the highest recorded on a daily basis since early this year. The data brought the total number of coronavirus cases in the country to 44,254.

Roque acknowledged many "felt nervous" and the Palace was "saddened" by the sudden rise in the number of infections.

But he noted that of the total cases, 94.3 percent were mild; 0.5 percent were severe, 0.1 percent were critical and 5.1 percent were asymptomatic.

The country's positivity rate was at 7.3 percent,  much lower than the 12 percent benchmark set by the World Health Organization.

Roque said such positivity rate means seven for every 100 COVID-19 cases were positive.

"Well within the WHO benchmark. That's why we believe that we can overcome this (health problem)," he said.

For Metro Manila, Roque said critical care utilization, which includes hospital beds, ICU beds, mechanical ventilators and isolation beds, is at 63 percent or "moderate risk."

President Rodrigo Duterte initially placed the entire Luzon, including Metro Manila, under lockdown or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) where movements of people were restricted and most companies were closed.

But the government later gradually relaxed the quarantine rules. Metro Manila is now under general community quarantine, a less restrictive quarantine classification.

Only Cebu City remains under ECQ in the country.

Meanwhile, as of July 2, Roque said there were 62,762 locally stranded individuals who have been helped by the government.

The locally stranded individuals underwent anti-body tests and those who passed  were given travel authority by the Philippine National Police.

On July 4 and 5, he said there were 4,000 locally stranded individuals who were sent to their respective provinces. Celerina Monte/DMS