(PNA) – The government has no plan yet to impose stricter quarantine measures nationwide despite the threat of the more contagious Delta coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) variant, Malacañang said on Tuesday.
This, after the OCTA Research Group recommended the implementation of “anticipatory, preventive, and circuit-breaking lockdowns” to prevent the further spread of Delta variant.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) is prioritizing the country’s “total health” to make sure that Filipinos are recovering from the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic.
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“Wala pa pong recommendation for hard lockdown dahil ang importante po, total health. Binabalanse po talaga natin iyan (There is no recommendation for hard lockdown because what is important is the total health. We are balancing it),” Roque said in a press conference at the Subic Bay Freeport Zone.
The OCTA Research’s recommendation came after Metro Manila recorded an average of nearly 1,000 Covid-19 cases daily amid the threat of Delta variant.
The Philippines has logged a total of 119 cases of Delta Covid-19 variant. Around 103 have already recovered, 12 are still recuperating, and four have died.
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Ready for Delta variant
Roque assured the public that the government is ready to fight the Delta coronavirus variant.
Despite the apparent spike in Delta variant cases, Roque said the IATF-EID does not see the need yet to upgrade the quarantine classification in the country.
He, nevertheless, guaranteed that the government is monitoring the Covid-19 situation in the country on a weekly basis.
He added that the quarantine status in the country will be announced every 15 days, instead of declaring it every month.
“[The declaration of] our [quarantine] classification will now be every 15 days kasi (because) we need to be able to move quickly kapag talagang sumipa ang Delta variant (if the number of cases of Delta variant continues to rise),” Roque said.
