Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, April 5) – As the end of the island-wide enhanced community quarantine draws closer, a lawmaker again stressed the need for an extension to prevent the further spread of COVID-19 in the country.
House Ways and Means Committee Chairman Joey Salceda reiterated his call to extend the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon, saying it will allow government to protect many lives and recover economic losses faster.
According to Salceda, history and economics show that an extension is not a tradeoff between lives and economic growth.
“If anything, the more lives we lose and the more panic this virus creates if it gets worse, the less our chances are of any quick recovery,” Salceda said in statement.
“Our people and our confidence – these are the two greatest resources in any economy, and they are the only irreplaceable ones,” he added.
Salceda cited two studies, one from the 1918 Flu pandemic and another from the 2008 pandemic, which showed that cities with longer lockdown periods effectively reduced the mortality rate and increased employment rates in the medium term.
“Bank assets, manufacturing, the economy of those who imposed a lockdown, performed better than areas where there are more aggressive na mga lockdowns o tinatawag nilang non-pharmaceutical health interventions up to the pandemic,” Salceda said in an interview on CNN Philippines.
[Translation: Bank assets, manufacturing, the economy of those who imposed a lockdown, performed better than areas where there are more aggressive lockdowns or what they call non-pharmaceutical health interventions up to the pandemic.]
Salceda told CNN Philippines there are major risks of premature lifting of the quarantine. For this reason, the congressman is pushing for an extension of 15 days.
“There are a lot of studies which say that you have to do at least 49 days in order to ensure that you have already more or less cleansed or at least isolated or prevented this virus from essentially in terms of its infection intensity,” he added.
Some members of the Senate and House of Representatives called on Friday for an extension of the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine.
READ: Lawmakers back extension of quarantine period to contain COVID-19 spread
Salceda said the government has already prepared for a possible extension.
“Nasa budget na po natin yan. We budgeted for two months and in fact, ‘yung atin pong assistance, yung tinatawag nating social amelioration, nakabudget po yan, two tranches, one in every month,” Salceda said.
[Translation: That’s already in the budget. We budgeted for two months and in fact, and in our assistance package, what we call social amelioration, we budgeted for two tranches, one in every month.]
Salceda also called mandatory mass testing for persons under investigation, and intensified contact tracing in order to identify infection clusters in the community level.
“To minimize the economic costs, the most important thing is to keep the lights on. To maintain the pre-covid structure of the economy with as little loss in jobs as possible. That’s why it’s important to lend cheap credit to businesses, provide subsidies to the people, and keep our logistics moving,” Salceda said.
The Luzon-wide quarantine, which was imposed to avert the spread of COVID-19, is scheduled to end on midnight of April 13.
