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The Philippines could be in a better position to switch to a more relaxed quarantine measure starting next month thanks to the availability of a vaccine against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19), a cabinet official said.
“We will go through another month of GCQ (general community quarantine) but I am sure that with the arrival of the vaccine and the data that we show, we can better manage the economy by reopening more and safely and we demonstrate that in October, November December when we opened and there was no peak in cases. I think after this month we should be in a better position to relax more, ”the acting secretary of the National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA), Karl Chua, said at a briefing on Monday.
“We strongly believe that with the data that we are seeing and if everyone cooperates, I think we can relax even more after this month,” he added.
However, he reiterated the importance of following health standards such as maintaining social distance, wearing a mask and washing hands.
Chua said that with the arrival of Covid-19 vaccine stocks in the country, confidence towards the health system will improve.
“Our priority is our avant-garde. People would not be so afraid to go out because they know that their healthcare system will be there to take care of them and take care of them when needed. When confidence increases, that’s when you see the economy come back. So [the vaccine] it has a great impact, ”Chua said.
He noted that to allow the Philippines to recover, the proper and timely implementation of the vaccine, the safe reopening of the economy, the implementation of the economic recovery program that provides subsidies, and the provision of support to businesses and individuals must be carried out.
“All of this must be done together to have the best impact on the economy and the people,” Chua said.
The Philippines has been under varying levels of community quarantine since mid-March last year. As a result, the Philippine economy contracted 9.5 percent in 2020, the worst decline since World War II.
The acting head of the NEDA pointed out that while it is necessary to reopen the economy even more and reduce the age restriction of those who are allowed to leave, the NEDA will first have to look at the economic and health data.
“We will recommend that once we see both the health data and the economic data, but from now on I think the decision is correct to wait until we know more about the virus. From an economic point of view, we will conduct the workforce survey monthly starting this year instead of quarterly to see how many lost their jobs, have reduced income and then we will compare that with the health data that shows whether there were spikes or not. with the new variant ”, said Chua.
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