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QUIET METROPOLIS An overview of the capital region, which accounts for the majority of coronavirus cases in the country, on Monday, two months after closure. (Photo by GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE / Philippine Daily Inquirer)
MANILA, Philippines: The new coronavirus situation varies from city to city in Metro Manila, but mayors want the national government to impose a single policy across the region, according to the Manila Metropolitan Development Authority (MMDA).
The Metro Manila closure is expected to end on Friday, and authorities are considering extending or easing it.
Previously, Metro Manila mayors proposed three options to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases, the temporary body that oversees the Duterte administration’s response to the coronavirus pandemic: extension of the closure for another two weeks, “general community quarantine” or “Modified community quarantine”.
Under the modified community quarantine, mayors could place barangays with numerous coronavirus infections in the closure.
MMDA spokeswoman Celine Pialago said 10 of the 17 Metro mayors wanted the blockade to be extended until the end of May to prevent a second wave of infections.
She said mayors also wanted a decision for the entire metropolis, the epicenter of the country’s new coronavirus epidemic.
“The only request of the mayors of Metro Manila is that whatever the decision of the [task force]there should only be one policy, one set of guidelines, one directive for [Metro Manila] from the [metropolis] it must act as a region, “Pialago said at an online news conference on Monday.
For mayors, he said, one city cannot be closed, while nearby cities are only in general community quarantine.
Interconnected
Metro Manila cities are interconnected and residents of one city work in other cities, he added.
The metropolis has been closed since mid-March to stop the spread of the new coronavirus causing the serious respiratory illness COVID-19. As the shutdown draws to a close, there are proposals to ease movement and trade restrictions to resurrect the region’s economy.
Pialago said balancing the need to protect people’s health with the need to revive the region’s economy has proven to be a challenge for mayors.
A group of academics from the University of the Philippines warned of a drastic increase in infections if the blockade were eased.
‘Scare tactics’
Presidential entrepreneurship adviser Joey Concepción had proposed stricter quarantine measures in barangays with numerous coronavirus infections.
In his press conference on Monday, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said that controlling the spread of the coronavirus would be “more difficult” if the blockade of Metro Manila was alleviated.
“In the next few days, I apologize in advance, I will really resort to scare tactics. I will reveal our real capacity and the models that show how many will fall ill if social distancing is not observed, ”said Roque.
He said that even if the blockade in some areas were eased, the rest of the country would still be under community quarantine and that citizens should not let their guard down.
“Our situation remains critical. We cannot return to normal as before COVID-19 arrived, ”he said.
Roque did not question reports that the government did not meet its target of 8,000 tests for the coronavirus by April 30, but said the state was taking steps to increase its testing capacity. (See related story on this page). He cited the accreditation of 28 coronavirus testing laboratories, including four “megagasm” centers in Bulacan, Manila, Pasay City and Taguig City.
The government aims to run 30,000 tests daily in late May, combining rapid tests and the polymerase chain reaction system to quickly find cases and isolate them.
“Eventually we will improve and improve our testing capabilities because only through testing will we know where the enemy is,” said Roque.
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