Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año admitted that it is the country’s best interest to keep Metro Manila under general community quarantine after June 15 to avoid surges in COVID-19 positive cases.
“Para sa akin, 50-50 pero mas lamang, magre-remain ‘yan (Metro Manila) sa GCQ,” Año said Friday.
[For me, there’s a 50-50 chance but it’s more likely for Metro Manila to remain under GCQ.]
There are 12,916 COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, with 83 new cases reported on Thursday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also said Thursday that latest COVID-19 cases reported in the capital do not “inspire relaxation” of existing quarantine protocols.
“Ang aking pananaw kasi, although i-compare mo ‘yung trend, mas mababa ‘yung numero kung overall pero wala pa siyang downtrend eh, patuloy pa ring may mga fresh or new cases,” the Cabinet official added. “If we are going to relax it now, baka mabulunan o madapa. Baka kung okay na tayo pero dahil niluwagan mo, bumalik na naman at magkaroon ng mas marami (na kaso).“
[In my view, although you can see that the number of cases are lower overall, there’s still no downtrend since we continue to see fresh or new cases. If we are going to relax it now, we might break the progress. If we’re doing okay and you ease the rules, we might fall back and see even more cases.]
However, Año said it will all depend on the President’s decision expected on Monday.
The IATF is focusing on Metro Manila, Cebu City, and provinces in regions 2, 3, and 4-A, the official said.
There are 24,175 confirmed COVID-19 cases in the country as of Thursday afternoon, of which 17,974 are active cases. Some 5,165 patients have recovered while 1,036 died from the disease.
