The modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces called NCR Plus bubble should be extended for at least one more week to rein in the spread of COVID-19, a group of experts said Tuesday.
"In agreement with the Department of Health and the medical community,
we would like to recommend to the national government to extend the MECQ for at least 1 more week," Fr. Nicanor Austriaco of OCTA Research Team told ANC.
The MECQ, the third strictest of four lockdown levels, is set to end on Friday, April 30, but Health Secretary Francisco Duque III also said it should be extended for at least another week.
Austriaco said the decreasing number of coronavirus cases in the NCR Plus bubble was still "unstable".
"What I mean by that is that the decrease in cases is not comparable across all the LGUs (local government units) of the NCR Plus bubble," he said.
"So, the concern is that if we prematurely enter into GCQ, then the cases in 1 LGU, which are unstable, will trigger a spike in adjacent LGUs and we will resurge again,” he said.
Extending the quarantine measure will also help decongest hospitals from COVID-19 admission, Austriaco said.
"In support of DOH and other hospital groups, we are saying, 'Let's do what we have to do now so we don't have to worry about it later,'" he said.
The Philippines on Monday breached the 1-million mark in COVID-19 cases, among the worst outbreaks in Asia. Nearly 17,000 have so far died from the disease.
Duque said Monday he also favored extending the MECQ as the health systems capacity in NCR Plus had yet to improve.
The Philippines logged on Tuesday 7,204 new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, bringing the total to 1,013,618, the Department of Health reported.
According to the DOH, the relatively low number of new COVID-19 cases was because two laboratories were not operational on April 25, 2021, while 22 laboratories were not able to submit their data to the COVID-19 Document Repository System on time.
Active cases were recorded at 71,675, which is 7.1 percent of the total number of cases.
The DOH also reported that 10,109 patients recovered recently, bringing the total recoveries to 925,027, which is 91.3 percent of the total.
The DOH also reported 63 new fatalities, bringing the death toll to 16,916, which is 1.67 percent of the total.
The DOH also reported that, nationwide, 63 percent of the ICU beds, 47 percent of the isolation beds, 53 percent of the ward beds, and 46 percent of the ventilators were utilized.
According to the OCTA Research Group, the COVID-19 reproduction number in the National Capital Region (NCR) decreased to 0.93 after almost a month since the government imposed a stricter lockdown.
The group earlier recommended a one-week extension of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in the NCR, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite, also called the “NCR Plus” bubble.
The growth of daily infections has slowed down in the past two weeks due to stricter lockdown restrictions in the "NCR Plus" bubble, but some hospitals remained in full capacity.
Because of this, experts and government officials have recommended the extension of the modified enhanced community quarantine in the bubble, to decongest hospitals still grappling with the disease.
President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to announce new quarantine classifications on Wednesday for the month of May, as lockdown levels are set to expire by Friday.