NEDA pushes for intensified testing, tracing while on lockdown

The National Economic Development Authority (NEDA) pushed for a more intensified implementation of the Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat, and Recover (PDITR) strategy to maximize the effectiveness of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) extension in the National Capital Region (NCR) and several nearby provinces.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua noted that the PDITR strategy worked between August 2020 and February 2021 when the country was able to reduce cases to below 2,000 daily, which allowed for the gradual opening of the economy.

However, he said, with the new variants, the implementation of the PDITR strategy needs to be further intensified.

“ECQ alone does not reduce cases. It simply buys time. Thus, we need to further intensify testing, tracing, quarantine, isolation, treatment, and vaccination,” Chua said.

“Enforcing minimum health protocols and monitoring compliance, building more isolation facilities, accelerating vaccine deployment to the vulnerable sectors, and implementing the additional social amelioration program are all needed,” he added.

NEDA acknowledged the ECQ extension will have a negative impact on the people covered by the lockdown.

In a statement, NEDA said the two-week ECQ would result in some 252,000 more individuals without jobs and 102,000 more poor individuals.

It also said the more stringent quarantine in NCR Plus translates to a daily household income loss of P2.1 billion or almost P30 billion for the two-week period.

“All in all, the two-week ECQ may shave off 0.8 percentage points from the country’s full year economic growth in 2021,” it said.

Chua also underscored that the “unhampered transition to the digital economy and the new normal, both for government agencies and businesses, should be further promoted in order to limit physical interactions, as well as enable continued operations and delivery of goods and services.”

On the part of the government, Chua said the following key interventions will be pursued: first, increase and improve the health systems capacity; second, improve the communication strategy; third, accelerate vaccine deployment for the vulnerable sectors; and lastly, ensure that all sectors are equipped with the skills to transition to the new normal.

Over the weekend, the government announced that the enhanced community quarantine over Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal would be extended by a week to April 11.—Ma. Angelica Garcia/LDF, GMA News