Duterte wants more discussions on fate of Luzon quarantine -Nograles

President Rodrigo Duterte has directed government officials to continue discussions on whether to lift, extend, or modify the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine to curb the spread of COVID-19, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Tuesday.

Nograles said the President issued the directive following his meeting with some members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) on Monday.

“It’s not an easy decision to come up with. We still have time for the President to give his decision. In fact, we’re looking at the entire week to give the President some leeway and time to make a decision kasi April 30 is next week pa naman,” he said in a televised briefing.

“We just need to put more meat into the possible decision points of the President.”

Duterte had also sought guidance from medical experts, composed of epidemiologists and virologists, and former secretaries of the Department of Health (DOH).

The Luzon-wide quarantine, which began on March 17, entailed sweeping restrictions on travel and mass gatherings as well as closure of schools and most businesses.

It was supposed to end on April 13 but Duterte extended this until April 30.

Albay Representative Joey Salceda earlier called for a two-week extension of the Luzon-wide quarantine since the country has far conducted only thousands of tests.

“Lifting the enhanced community quarantine amounts to carelessly exposing the entire population to infection, no matter what residual social distancing,” he said.

Party-list lawmakers Alfredo Garbin of Ako Bicol and Mikee Romero of 1-PACMAN suggested a modified enhanced community quarantine to allow the agriculture and manufacturing industries to resume operations after April 30.

As of Monday, the Philippines had 6,459 COVID-19 cases, with 613 recoveries and 428 deaths.—AOL, GMA News