Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, June 10) — The Metro Manila Council is set to meet this week on its recommendation to the government’s COVID-19 task force on the fate of the community quarantine in the capital region, its chairman said on Wednesday.
MMC chairman and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez told CNN Philippines’ News Night that the council composed of all mayors in Metro Manila is just waiting for latest data from the Department of Health on the case doubling time in the region, or the time it takes for COVID-19 cases to double.
“Hindi po kami makapag-decide … without the specific data para malaman po natin kung ang recommendation natin is to sustain ‘yung ating general community quarantine o i-downgrade na sa modified general community quarantine,” Olivarez said.
[Translation: We can’t decide … without the specific data so we would know whether to recommend a stay for the general community quarantine or downgrade it to a modified general community quarantine.]
Olivarez, however, said that he wants the general community quarantine to be extended for another 15 days in Parañaque City, despite what he described as a plateau in cases in 14 barangays.
“Masiyadong abrupt kung magkaroon po tayo ng modified. ‘Yun pong inumpisahan natin na health protocol po natin, dapat i-continue po natin ‘yan,” he said.
[Translation: It’s too abrupt if we go into modified (general community quarantine). The health protocols that we started with, we should continue with those.]
The fate of the community quarantine in the country is expected to be announced on Thursday, following the meeting of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Most of the country is now under the more relaxed modified general community quarantine, while several other regions considered still at high risk for COVID-19 infections, including Metro Manila and Cebu, are under general community quarantine.
