MANILA – Malacañang stated on Tuesday that the government has no plans to enforce stricter quarantine measures nationwide despite the risk of the highly transmissible Delta coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variant.
This comes after the OCTA Research Group suggested that “anticipatory, preventative, and circuit-breaking lockdowns” be implemented to stop the Delta variant from spreading further.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), according to Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, is addressing the country’s “overall health” to ensure that Filipinos recover from the impact of the Covid-19 outbreak.
“Wala pa pong recommendation for hard lockdown dahil ang importante po, total health. Binabalanse po talaga natin iyan (There is no recommendation for hard lockdown because what is important is the total health. We are balancing it),” Roque said in a press conference at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
The OCTA Research advice came after Metro Manila recorded roughly 1,000 Covid-19 infections per day on average due to the Delta variant threat.
There have been 119 cases of Delta Covid-19 variant in the Philippines. Around 103 people have recovered, 12 people are still recovering, and four people have died.
Prepared for Delta variant
The government, according to Roque, is prepared to combat the Delta coronavirus variant.
Roque stated that the IATF-EID does not believe there is a need to modify the country’s quarantine classification at this time despite the apparent increase in Delta variant cases.
Nonetheless, he assured that the government is monitoring the Covid-19 situation in the country on a weekly basis.
He also stated that the country’s quarantine status will be notified every 15 days, rather than once a month.
“[The declaration of] our [quarantine] classification will now be every 15 days kasi (because) we need to be able to move quickly kapag talagang sumipa ang Delta variant (if the number of cases of Delta variant continues to rise),” Roque said.
Concerned by number of underprivileged Filipinos
Meanwhile, Roque stated that the Palace is dismayed by a Social Weather Stations’ (SWS) study conducted from June 23 to 26, which revealed that 48 percent of Filipino households considered themselves to be “poor”.
Roque said that it is no longer shocking that many Filipinos would find themselves poor, given that the country is currently dealing with the Covid-19 pandemic.
“Well, siyempre po, nalulungkot tayo diyan pero iyan po ay dahil na rin po sa nagaganap ng pandemya (of course, we are saddened by that but that is happening because of the prevailing pandemic),” he said.
Only 23% of Filipino families considered themselves to be “not poor,” while 29% considered themselves to be on the borderline between the two groups, according to the SWS poll.
Roque stated that the government is doing all possible to assist Filipinos in dealing with the pandemic.
No need for additional funding
Despite the ongoing Covid-19 pandemic, Roque noted that there is no need to request additional Covid-19 funds because the government has enough money in the 2021 national budget to intensify the fight against the coronavirus.
“Meron pa po tayong 2021 budget at buwan pa lang po ng Hulyo. So, meron pa pong natitira sa budget (We have 2021 budget and it’s still July. So, we still have enough budget),” he said.
If the government requires a supplemental budget, Roque said that it will not hesitate to seek Congress to boost the funds intended for the Covid-19 response activities.
“Pero kung talagang kakailanganin, eh madali lang humingi ng supplemental budget. Kung kulang ang oras, pupuwede ring humingi po ng special session. Pero sa ngayon po, tinitignan natin kung meron talagang pangangailangan (If need be, it’s easy to ask for a supplemental budget. If there’s no enough time, we can ask for a special session. But as of now, we are assessing if there’s really a need for that),” he said.
