Nograles: Easing COVID-19 restrictions won't happen if cases continue to rise

President Rodrigo Duterte will not ease quarantine restrictions even if two million people have been given COVID-19 vaccine if the cases will continue to increase, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles said Tuesday.

Nograles made the comment in light of the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in the past four days and his previous statement that the President wants to see at least two million people vaccinated before considering relaxing quarantine restrictions.

“‘Yung indicative number niya is 2 million Filipinos getting inoculated. The other variable na kailangan tignan eh iyong number of COVID-19 cases. Kahit na sabihin natin na  2 million na ang na-inoculate, pero cases are rising… then mukhang hindi pa feasible ang GCQ in certain areas based on the formula that we use which is attack rate, hospital bed utilization rate, and other socio-economic factors,” Nograles said during a Pandesal forum.

He, however, said that the government, particularly the local government units, are not helpless in such a situation.

“Siyempre, part of the consideration iyong COVID-19 cases natin. Kaya it is something that the mayors in GCQ (general community quarantine) areas have to respond to with localized lockdown kung gusto talaga natin ma-contain ang pag-spread ng COVID-19 doon sa areas of concern,” he added.

Pressed if an MCGQ by April is already out of the question with the over 3,000 COVID-19 cases reported everyday in the last four days, Nograles said it is too early to tell.

“It is too early to tell. The Inter-Agency Task Force is not just one person. Idaan natin sa proseso,” he said.

Vice President Cecilio Pedro of the Federation of Filipino-Chinese Chambers of Commerce and Industry, Inc. (FFCCCII), for his part, called on the government to also invest resources on helping businesses recover from the COVID-19 pandemic.

“How about a stimulus package? Kasi kahit dumating na ang mga vaccine, paano kung patay na ang mga negosyo? We need to bring up the employment,” Pedro said.

Nograles responded by saying that Congress is pushing for a Bayanihan 3 P420 billion stimulus package, but the President is yet to decide on its merits.

“Ayoko ko po siyang pangunahan,” Nograles said.—AOL, GMA News