DOH backs granular lockdowns vs. COVID-19

Implementing granular lockdowns will help the government focus its efforts on high-risk areas for COVID-19 and promote economic activity, the Department of Health (DOH) said Monday.

In an online briefing, DOH Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said their analysis of COVID-19 data found that cases were usually concentrated in a few barangays.

“Bakit natin isasara ng buo kung yung mga barangay na mga iyan ay maaari nating ma-identify at sila ang isara lang muna natin to restrict mobility and for us to contain the transmission within those areas. Kaya po natin nairekomenda ang granular lockdown,” she said.

(Why would we close a wide area when we can only limit it to certain barangays in order for us to restrict mobility and for us to contain the transmission within those areas? That is why we recommended granular lockdowns.)

“We’re not going to close a big area. We’re just going to close specific, small areas para naman magtuloy-tuloy ang buhay ng mga tao doon sa mga areas na wala namang ganoon kataas na kaso,” she added.

Alert levels

In an interview on Super Radyo dzBB earlier in the day, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos said the "storm-type alerts" will be used in the granular lockdowns.

He said the alert levels will be determined by the DOH.

Abalos said under the four-alert system, limits on capacities of certain sectors and industries will be imposed. He mentioned three Cs: "close-contact," which involves personal care services; "crowded" like churches, conventions and exhibitions; and "closed spaces" like restaurants.

Alert level 1 would allow all three C sectors to operate, while alert level 4 would prohibit them from opening and accepting guests or customers.

Alert level 2, meanwhile, would limit the capacity of the three C sectors to 50% or 30% on alert level 3.

Earlier, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez suggested that the granular lockdown would be better for the economy, which has been suffering due to restrictive community quarantine.

He also said that under granular lockdown, more businesses will be allowed to operate, even as COVID-19 safety protocols are strictly enforced.

Vergeire said granular lockdowns would help the government enhance its active case finding, intensify testing, and ensure immediate isolation of cases.

She said they are now revising their case projections to include the potential impact of granular lockdowns.

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said on Sunday the pilot testing for the granular lockdown in Metro Manila would begin on September 8, but Vergeire said the proposal is still up for approval by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).  —KBK, GMA News