OCTA Research bats for another week of ECQ in NCR Plus

The government should extend the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the NCR Plus bubble for another week to slow down the surge in COVID-19 cases, the OCTA Research group said Friday.

If ECQ extension "cannot be considered for socioeconomic reasons," the group suggested a two-week modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) to “sustain the gains” made over the previous weeks.

Professor Ranjit Rye said the COVID-19 situation in Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal — collectively dubbed NCR Plus — is “not yet ideal for opening up.”

Rye said the reproduction number of the coronavirus remains above 1, meaning each COVID-19 case can still infect more than one other person, and the average number of daily new cases continues to be “very high.”

“Moreover, a continuing concern is that hospital capacity in the region and the bubble remain at critical capacity. We need time to slow this surge down. We cannot open prematurely as this could accelerate the surge,” he warned.

Malacañang earlier said it was “unlikely” that the ECQ, the strictest lockdown classification, would be extended past April 11. 

The Department of Health has also explained that the loosening of restrictions will be gradual, with MECQ imposed first instead of jumping straight to general community quarantine, a less stringent classification that allows more economic activity. 

The government’s inter-agency COVID-19 task force will meet on Saturday to discuss the quarantine restrictions over NCR Plus. 

Meanwhile, OCTA Research urged the national government to work with its local counterparts and the private sector to accelerate COVID-19 vaccination in NCR Plus.

“In particular, we need to expand the number of vaccination sites in the NCR to accommodate more individuals and reduce the possibility of superspreader events due to crowding in vaccination centers,” Rye said.

OCTA suggested using university gyms and even malls as alternative vaccination sites.

The Philippines has vaccinated over 922,000 individuals as of April 6 while active COVID-19 cases have soared to more than 167,000 as of Thursday afternoon.  —KBK, GMA News