The OCTA Research Group recommended the imposition of a “hard GCQ (general community quarantine)” as an effective response to the continued spike in COVID-19 cases.
This development comes after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on COVID-19 announced the 2-week closure of some industries in areas under general community quarantine to help lessen the cases.
“Time is of the essence here. We are in a surge that is very different and potentially is more serious. Actually it’s more serious than the last surge,” Prof. Ranjit Rye of the OCTA Group said.
The country on Friday logged a total of 7,103 new COVID-19 cases, the highest daily tally in the country since the pandemic began in 2020.
“Hard GCQ” as proposed by the OCTA Group meant discouraging social gatherings and indoor dining; implementing a more significant work-from-home set-up for industries that can implement it; and use of quarantine pass for those who need to report for work physically, among others.
“Our notion of hard GCQ should include a significant amount of our workforce both in the private sector and the public sector working from home or on a staggered work hour system,” he added.
Rye also said that granular or localized lockdowns will not enough to combat the high COVID-19 transmissions.
