NCR To Remain Under MECQ Until Sept. 15 As IATF Defers GCQ With Granular Lockdowns

The  Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases  deferred the implementation of general community quarantine (GCQ) with alert level system in the National Capital Region (NCR) to accommodate more suggestions and inputs from the metropolis mayors, presidential spokesman Harry Roque announced on Tuesday night, Sept. 7.

In a press briefing earlier in the day, Roque deferred the announcement of the “four-page” guidelines, upon request by the IATF, which was set to meet at 3 p.m. on Tuesday to finalize the rules.

The IATF earlier placed Metro Manila under GCQ from Sept. 8 to 30, but Roque said residents should expect  granular hard lockdowns in areas with high cases of COVID-19.

In a statement, Roque said Metro Manila’s current risk classification as modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) “shall be maintained until Sept. 15, 2021, or until the pilot GCQ with Alert Level System is implemented, whichever comes first.”

He said indoor and al-fresco dine-in services, and personal care services including beauty salons, beauty parlors and nail spas shall remain prohibited in Metro Manila.

Religious services, on the other hand, performed through online video recording and transmission shall be allowed.

Immediate family members are allowed to attend necrological services, wakes, inurnment and funerals as long as the deceased died of non-COVID causes, Roque said. However, they need to show satisfactory proof of their relationship with the deceased and have to comply with the minimum public health standards.

Alethea de Guzman, head of the Department of Health’s (DOH) Epidemiology Bureau, said the government opted to shift to granular lockdowns in Metro Manila as data showed that 80% of COVID-19 cases in the region were only found in 11% to 30% of its barangays.

“The policy shift we are talking about, it came from the analysis of our data showing that whenever we put these areas under lockdown, when we look at it, 80% of the new cases don’t actually come from all barangays of a city or municipality,” De Guzman said at a press briefing with Roque.

“And we notice that 11 to 30% of these barangays are actually the larger barangays,” she said.

The health official stressed public’s strict compliance with minimum health protocols such as wearing of face masks and social distancing, as well as quicker isolation of confirmed cases, and increasing vaccination coverage could be just as effective as a regional enhanced community quarantine, the strictest quarantine classification.

“Our projections done by our partner FASSSTER showed that even at lower community quarantine levels if we improve these three strategies, its effect is almost like ECQ,” she said.

"This is our way to balance health and economy. We want to reduce cases and safely open our sectors so our people can continue working," she added.

Meanwhile, Roque said Ilocos Norte was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine beginning Tuesday until the end of the month.

The Philippines on Tuesday recorded 18,012 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide total to 2,121,308, the DOH announced. The DOH said of the total, 158,637 are active cases.

 Open the economy

 The Philippine Chamber of Commerce and Industry (PCCI), the country’s largest business organization, wants the economy to be fully opened even if herd immunity has yet to be achieved, stressing that lockdowns disrupt business activity.

“Many health experts claim it is impossible to achieve herd immunity as the virus keeps mutating and the vaccine is always behind the curve,” PCCI acting president Edgardo Lacson said.?“Yet it must be recognized by authorities that a lockdown, whether region-wide or granular, remains disruptive and a disincentive to business operations,” he added.

Closure

All courts in Metro Manila, including the appellate collegiate courts, would continue to be physically closed until Sept. 30 due to the spike in COVID-19 cases, Supreme Court (SC) Adminis-trator Jose Midas Marquez announced on Tuesday.

Marquez issued a two-page circular addressed to the judges of the first and second level courts and the appellate collegiate courts that refer to the Court of Appeals (CA), Court of Tax Appeals (CTA) and the Sandiganbayan.

During this time, Marquez said the courts in the NCR shall continue to operate online and conduct video conference hearings on pending cases and all other matters, whether urgent or not, as far as practicable, so as not to delay the trial of cases and court processes. – With Sheila Crisostomo, Ralph Edwin Villanueva, Evelyn Macairan, Louella Desiderio, Mayen Jaymalin, Emmanuel Tupas