BY JHON CASINAS
The Metro Manila mayors have recommended the extension of the general community quarantine (GCQ) status in the National Capital Region (NCR) for the whole month of October, San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said.
The Metro Manila Council, composed of 17 mayors of 16 cities and one municipality in the metropolis, met with members of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Sunday night to present their recommendation whether to retain the quarantine status in the region or downgrade to a less strict modified GCQ.
“Last night was a discussion regarding the mayors recommendation as to the quarantine status of Metro Manila, and the general consensus is to maintain the GCQ which I’m also personally in favor of,” Zamora said in an interview over CNN Philippines.
Although the metro mayors have recommended the extension of GCQ period, Zamora noted that the final decision is still up to President Duterte who is expected to announce the next quarantine status in the country this week.
During the meeting, Zamora said that there were suggestions to further open up the economy in NCR “so that Metro Manila will not be hit too hard by the economic crunch.”
He said “it is not anymore a question of health or the economy but the focus is now health and the economy.”
“Even if we retain the GCQ status, it is possible to still slowly increase the operational capacity, meaning the number of employees that can work, the number of customers that establishments can allowed to enter. So these are the guidelines that are now being prepared for,” he said.
Zamora said that they are seeing “a sharp decrease” in the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Metro Manila under GCQ.
“This is something that really proves that all the interventions that we are implementing are working, specifically the trace, isolate, test and treat,” he said.
“Also, localized lockdowns are working, meaning you don’t have to lockdown an entire barangay, or an entire city, or the entire Metro Manila just because there are areas that have positive cases,” he added.
The San Juan mayor said the city currently has 226 active cases, with 2,413 recoveries and 73 deaths.
