Total lockdown would spell disaster: Duterte

MANILA: The economy will remain open despite a fresh surge in Covid-19 cases, because imposing a total lockdown would spell “disaster” for the country, President Rodrigo Duterte (pic) said.

Duterte said the government has no choice but to simply “balance” the situation as it cannot afford to revert back to stricter quarantine rules.

“ If you will close all of these businesses, the economy is already out of shape, and that’s a problem. It will be a disaster for the country so we have to have a balance,” the President said.

Duterte raised concern over the country’s record-high 8,019 new Covid-19 infections this week, the highest single-day spike since the pandemic started last year.

“Why is the surge in cases higher than before? And why is the increase so exponential, it has become exponential as if it’s not going to end compared to when we experienced the first surge?” Duterte asked Health Secretary Francisco Duque III.

Duque then attributed the rise to the reopened economy and the new variants that have entered Philippine territory.

“We acknowledge that Filipinos are already grappling with the quarantine dragging on, that’s why we reopened a huge aspect of the economy which then led to an increased mobility among people. And this increased mobility has also led to increased transmission, increased contact rate, “ Duque added.

The Health Department earlier revealed that Metro Manila alone already has 76 cases of the B.1.1.7 variant first identified in the UK and 105 patients with the B.1.351 variant that first emerged in South Africa. These Covid-19 variants have spread in all 17 cities of the region, the agency reported.

However, in a briefing, Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Chua gave a cost-benefit analysis presentation on quarantines.

He raised that the issue is with the “total health” of the public and not “economy vs. health.” 

The secretary pointed out that claims from the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation for high-burden diseases such as cancer, diabetes, and hypertension dropped by 75pc. Chua said patients have been deferring treatment over fears of getting infected in hospitals.

Chua also said about 3.2 million people or 23pc of Metro Manila’s population are hungry and 506,000 are without jobs.

“Quarantine restrictions led to an average annual income loss of 23,000 per workers,” the secretary’s presentation stated.

To care for Covid-19 cases and the people facing hunger and other diseases, Chua recommended localized lockdowns (barangay, streets), continued operations for public transportation at 50pc capacity and an increase in frequency to reduce wait time in stations, curfew except for workers, only essential travel outside the NCR Plus ‘bubble’, reduced capacity in back-end offices at 30pc to 50pc, no indoor dine-in and gatherings, and practicing wearing masks at home.

But Duque also said some Filipinos, especially in public spaces, have been merely using their face masks and face shields as merely “token of compliance” without necessarily wearing them properly.

Vice President Leni Robredo previously called on government officials to refrain from blaming Filipinos over the surge for not being as compliant with health protocols, and instead consider allocating another round of cash aid for them to sustain their needs as the pandemic drags on.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said in a separate briefing that financial assistance for families affected by the two-week quarantine bubble in Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Batangas and Rizal is already off the table since most businesses remain operational.