Will Luzon-wide quarantine end on April 30? IATF can't say

Government policymakers will have to make a daily assessment of the COVID-19 situation in the country before making a decision whether to lift the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine by April 30, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Wednesday.

Nograles, spokesperson for the inter-agency task force on COVID-19 response, said in a televised briefing that the decision will depend on developments such as the capacity of the healthcare system and mass testing of suspected cases. 

Asked if the Luzon-wide quarantine will end on April 30, Nograles said, “Hindi ko po masabi. Again, we’ll take it one day at a time.”

“If we are successful doon sa dalawang aspeto na ‘yun at sa iba pang mga aspeto, then that will help us make a decision [‘pag] malapit na ang April 30.”

President Rodrigo Duterte had approved the extension of the community quarantine until April 30, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases announced on Tuesday.

The guidelines governing the implementation of the quarantine would remain in effect, according to Nograles.

The government was supposed to lift the quarantine on April 13.

The Philippines has already recorded 3,764 COVID-19 cases with 177 deaths and 84 recoveries. —KG, GMA News