San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora said Metro Manila should remain under a general community quarantine (GCQ) as this would enable the government to balance the economy and health concerns during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Zamora said he made this recommendation to the Metro Manila Council, which groups mayors of 17 cities and one municipality in the National Capital Region.
“The businesses that have been allowed to open under a GCQ have been able to operate well,” Zamora said in Filipino. “We shouldn't rush the easing of quarantine restrictions.”
Zamora's recommendation came as the Department of Health (DOH) reported 22,319 recoveries from COVID-19 on Sunday, bringing the total number of patients who have recovered from the disease to 157,403.
But the DOH also reported 4,284 new cases, bringing total cases since the pandemic began to 217,396.
It also reported 102 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 3,520.
Sunday's tally was based on reports from 100 of the 110 operation testing laboratories.
These have tested 2,392,529 individuals for COVID-19 as of Aug. 29, 2020.
Researchers from the University of the Philippines said they would not recommend shifting Metro Manila to a less strict modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) as more study and observation are needed to ensure that the relaxation of restrictions would not result in a drastic rise in COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, the DOH said it has observed an improvement in the bed occupancy rate in hospitals in Metro Manila, with less congestion.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said hospitals in the Metro Manila were decongesting “gradually” after the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) was imposed from Aug. 4 to 18.
“As the days go by, as we do our analysis, we can see the effect of the MECQ,” Vergeire said in a mix of English and Filipino.
On Saturday, the DOH said it is the only entity authorized to access the list of COVID-19 patients following reports of leaked names on social media.
"Relevant information should only be shared to concerned public health authorities who are knowledgeable of their duty in maintaining data privacy," the DOH said as it warned that privacy violations or personal data breach would be penalized in accordance with the Data Privacy Act of 2012.
RA 10173 provides that persons who “knowingly or negligently dispose, discard or abandon the personal information of an individual in an area accessible to the public” will be penalized by up to three years imprisonment and a fine of not more than P1 million.
Also on Sunday, Senator Nancy Binay berated the DOH for saying there was not enough evidence that the new coronavirus did not come from Chinese tourists from Wuhan City, the first epicenter of the COVID-19 pandemic.
The senator reminded the DOH that in January, two Chinese tourists from Wuhan City were positively identified as the first carriers of the novel coronavirus in the Philippines.
"Saying that evidence was not enough to say that COVID came from the Chinese tourists is practically admitting that they are a failure in contact tracing–which explains why they failed to stem the spread of the virus–and continue to do so," Binay said.
She called on the DOH to stop twisting facts to appease other people or countries.
The senator said the DOH should get its act together and stop making remarks that are careless, irresponsible and prone to wholesale misinterpretation.
"When politics coopts public health, the facts are made to change, and the responses also change so the solutions to the problem do not always match, and the people are made to embrace a capital mistake," she said.
"By allowing those in the bureaucracy to change and twist facts about public health to suit a narrative only exposes the country to greater risks,” she added. "It's so hard to understand why until now the DOH would downplay things, specially when it comes to China.”
In other developments:
* The Presidential Commission for the Urban Poor chief Alvin Feliciano said there should be a temporary suspension of all demolitions and evictions amid the COVID-19 pandemic to give housing security to poor communities.
* Senator Joel Villanueva urged the government to ensure that COVID-19 prevention protocols in the workplace are strictly observed. He also called on workplace occupational safety and health (OSH) committees and safety officers in companies to take the lead in monitoring and ensuring compliance with government guidelines on the prevention and control of COVID-19.