San Juan Mayor Zamora backs ECQ extension in NCR Plus

San Juan City Mayor Francis Zamora on Wednesday voiced support to the suggestion of extending the enhanced community quarantine over Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces amid a COVID-19 case surge.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, Zamora said one week of ECQ may go to waste if it will be lifted by April 5.

“Personal opinion ko lang 'to, hindi naman 'to saloobin ng ibang mayors, nakikita ko ho na baka kulangin nga kung magbubukas na naman tayong muli by April 5,” he said.

(This is just my personal opinion, this is not the position of other mayors. I think that one week is not sufficient to address the surge.)

According to Zamora, he discussed the matter with Health Secretary Francisco Duque III, who he said agreed that one week is too short to see the effect of the ECQ on the number of COVID-19 cases.

Zamora suggested checking the data on COVID-19 cases on Saturday before making a decision on the possible extension of ECQ in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal or “NCR Plus.”

In San Juan City, Zamora said the number of infections is still increasing. Currently, the city has 683 active cases. On March 1, Zamora said there were only 61 active cases.

On Tuesday, Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the Department of Health (DOH) has recommended a one-week extension of the ECQ over NCR Plus that is set to expire on April 4.

For the fifth straight day on Tuesday, the DOH reported over 9,000 daily new COVID-19 cases.

The total number of cases in the country is already at 741,181 with  124,680 active cases, the highest recorded this year. —KBK, GMA News