NCR mayors to recommend quarantine protocol to IATF Tuesday afternoon

The Metro Manila Council will give its recommendation on the quarantine classification for the month of May this afternoon, MMC chairman and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said Tuesday.

“Magkakaroon ng consensus ang Metro Manila Council kung ano po ang irerekomenda po natin sa [Inter-Agency Task Force]… Itong tanghali po,” Olivarez said in an interview with Dobol B TV.

(The consensus of the Metro Manila Council on the quarantine classification, that will be recommended to the IATF, will be reached this afternoon.)

The IATF will hold a meeting at 1:30 p.m. on Tuesday, Olivarez said.

So far, Olivarez said the local government units cannot relax the quarantine classification in their localities as the occupancy rate of hospital beds remains high, based on the data provided by the Department of Health to the MMC council.

“‘Di kaya mag-relax pa ng local government units sa quarantine natin dahil ang ating critical care based on the data ng ating DOH, bumaba ang ating critical care pero nasa 70 percent ang occupancy natin,” Olivarez said.

(The local government units cannot relax on the quarantine classification because based on the DOH data, the utilization of critical care units has decreased but the occupancy rate remains at 70 percent.)

On the other hand, the MMC chairman said they are also considering the economic factor of extending the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in Metro Manila.

He said the problem of unemployment will further worsen if MECQ will be extended in Metro Manila.

President Rodrigo Duterte is set to announce quarantine protocols for the month of May, including in the NCR Plus bubble, on Wednesday.

On Monday, the Philippines surpassed one million COVID-19 cases with 8,929 new infections recorded. — Hana Bordey/RSJ, GMA News