(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte wants the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to study further its recommendations and provide more options on a post-April 30 scenario.
Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said that the IATF submitted its recommendations to President Duterte on Monday, April 20, but he advised them that more options should be put in place and he would need more time to study such options.
In a virtual presser on Tuesday, April 21, Nograles said that the IATF will meet again on Wednesday, April 22, to finalize and further refine their recommendations.
“It’s not an easy decision to come up with basically,” he said.
“Hindi po madali ang decision na ito lalo na para kay Pangulong Duterte,” Nograles explained.
He said that the IATF was given more time by the President to “study the options” or to give more options, which would include them touching base with various stakeholders and getting their inputs.
-More time needed-
He said that they need a bit more time so they could help in providing detailed and more guided options for the President.
Nograles, the IATF spokesperson, said that they are even looking at this entire week to finalize their recommendations.
He said President Duterte wanted more meat, more details on the repercussions of each option to be given to him.
“We are looking at this entire week and give the President some leeway to decide,” he said.
“We anticipated that. It’s not an easy decision to make. We’re trying to put in more meat and details, the effects of each option, the repercussions,” he explained.
“We just need to put more meat on the possible decision points of the President,” Nograles added.
-IATF mindful of WHO guidelines –
He said that the IATF is mindful of the guidelines provided by the World Health Organization, on the considerations to be studied even before considering lifting of the enhanced community quarantine or lockdown:
– That COVID-19 should be controlled in areas where a lockdown would be lifted;
– That public health capacities are in place to identify, isolate, trace and quarantine cases;
– That they should also minimize outbreaks in areas with high vulnerability, including considerations on the age and comorbidities;
– That work places to be allowed to open should have the guidelines in place on physical distance and handwashing, and identifying what percentage of the workforce should be allowed to go back to work;
– That there should be minimized importation of new cases from outside the country;
– And to ensure that communities are engaged.
Nograles said that “if we lift it or modify, there is the risk that the numbers of confirmed COVID-19 cases will go up” again,
“We are more confident to go on a modified quarantine if our testing capacity is expanded further,” he added.
(Eagle News Service)
