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MANILA, Philippines – Malacañang urges experts at the University of the Philippines to stop publishing suggestions on the response to the pandemic and communicate them “privately” to the government.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque made the remarks following the latest recommendation from the Octa Research team that stricter closures be observed in some areas.
“I really appreciate Octa’s efforts to help us monitor COVID-19 cases. But I already asked them to desist from making recommendations on classification because this is really the work of experts, ”said Roque.
At a news conference on Tuesday, he commented that the Octa Research team is working with “one or two epidemiologists” to track the pandemic curve, while the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) consulted more experts. .
“I would like them to refrain from making these recommendations publicly,” Roque said.
The Palace official issued the statement after the Octa Research team urged the government to consider re-imposing stricter community quarantine classifications or localized closures in Bauan, Batangas; Calbayog, western Samar; and General Trias, Cavite.
The researchers cited the increasing daily attack rate of the new coronavirus in all three areas in the past two weeks.
They also noted that the hot spots with the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the last two weeks were Metro Manila, Cavite, Rizal, Batangas, Laguna, Bulacan, Negros Occidental and Iloilo.
“My suggestion is, if Octa Research doesn’t mind, if possible, let’s make the recommendations in private through the IATF. We will send it to the regional IATF if necessary ”, said Roque.
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