IATF meeting set today to decide on protocols after June 15
(Eagle News) — Malacanang said that if the increasing trend in high cases continue in Metro Manila and Cebu City, these areas might not “graduate” into Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) after June 15 when the GCQ in these areas would supposedly end.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said that this decision of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) would depend on the scientific data on case doubling rate and the critical care capacity for COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila and Central Visayas where Cebu City is located.
Roque said that there was even a possibility of a return to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) if the high trend of cases continue.
“If the trend continues, either magpapatuloy po siguro ang GCQ or baka babalik sa Modified ECQ ‘no, ganoon lang po iyon; because all classifications are flexible depending on the data,” he said.
“As I said po, lahat ng desisyon ng IATF whether or not to graduate to the next regime, in the case of Metro Manila to MGCQ, is always dependent on data. Tinitingnan po natin ang case-doubling rate, tinitingnan po natin ang critical care capacity. Kapag ganiyan pong tumataas, well siyempre po may posibilidad na hindi po tayo mag-ga-graduate to the next phase,” Roque said in Palace press briefing on Tuesday, June 9.
He said that there would be an IATF meeeting today, Wednesday, June 10, on what would be the classifications for various areas in the country come June 16.
The areas in the country under GCQ until June 15 are the following: Metro Manila, Central Luzon, CALABARZON, Central Visayas, and the provinces of Albay and Pangasinan. Cebu City, Mandaue City, Zamboanga City and Davao City are also under GCQ.
Outside of these areas are considered MGCQ areas with more relaxed quarantine protocols.
-Higher COVID-19 cases in Central Visayas than in Metro Manila-
As of Department of Health (DOH) data on Tuesday, June 9, the total COVID-19 cases in the country reached almost 23,000 with the addition of 518 cases, 280 of which were “fresh cases”.
The previous day, the added cases were also over 500, or 579 to be exact. Of this number, 331 were fresh cases.
DOH data also showed that COVID-19 cases being reported from Central Visayas were higher than in Metro Manila.
COVID-19 deaths added daily continue to be in the single-digit mostly, as DOH said that mortality rate continued to decline and health care capacity for COVID-19 cases is still good as only around 30 percent of hospital beds, wards, and ICU units have been occupied by active COVID-19 patients.
(Eagle News Service)
