Salceda bats for two-week extension of enhanced community quarantine in Luzon

House Committee on Ways and Means chair Joey Salceda on Thursday called for an extension for two weeks of the implementation of an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon.

In a statement, Salceda said a premature lifting of the ECQ was "against science, economics, and history."

"A premature lifting of the ECQ would not be good for the economy. It will not fulfill our public health objectives. And it risks getting us back to square zero in terms of our progress in fighting this disease," Salceda said.

He said there were two critical factors in fighting the COVID-19 disease, namely, mobility and isolation tendency.

"The ECQ has significantly reduced mobility. You can see that in reduced energy consumption and in reduced demand for fuel. So, people are no longer moving around carrying the virus as much as they would have," Salceda said.

“The second critical factor is what we call isolation tendency. It’s how much you isolate confirmed and suspected cases from the rest of the population. And that only increases once you know who are COVID-positive in the first place, through mass testing," he added.

Salceda said that no reputable source in the medical community had suggested to "shorten the lockdown."

Instead, Salceda said they proposed to even implement it to at least six weeks to avoid premature lifting of restrictions and triggering a massive wave of new infections.

“The Bill and Melinda Gates Foundation says we can keep lockdowns to six to 10 weeks, if countries do well. The Hubei lockdowns which worked remarkably were 6 to 8-week shutdowns. And Northern Italy has been on lockdown since March 9, with no end in sight yet,” Salceda said.

Salceda reiterated his call of a massive testing for COVID-19 in order to "confront the enemy."

“We have not yet confronted the enemy or have fully grasped its dimensions. We do not yet fully know the size of its territory or the magnitude of its full impact. We must increase our testing by at least 10,000 specimens per day, contact trace and isolate with the best logical and technological means available (mobile tracking, GPS, mapping, etc.)," Salceda said.

"We must identify infection clusters with data from mass testing and intensified contact tracing, and confront the virus where it is," he added.

It was Caloocan City Representative Edgar Erice who earlier proposed to extend the ECQ for another month, considering that the novel coronavirus has not been fully contained yet.

"Kung papasok ito sa mga kasaluksulukan ng mga kalungsuran dito sa Metro Manila, napakaraming masasawi, napakaraming kawawa," Salceda said.

"Kung aalisin natin ang community quarantine na ito, makakasalamuha ng mga manggagawa, lahat magpapaikot-ikot, sa public transportation, sigurado ako kung ano yung dinaranas ng New York, kung anong dinaranas ng Italy, kung anong dinaranas ng United Kingdom, at sa mga iba pang lungsod, mas masahol pa ang aabutin natin dahil mas densely populated ang Metro Manila," he added.  -NB, GMA News