The Metro Manila Council (MMC) will defer to the “sound and wise” judgment of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) on the next community quarantine status to be implemented in the National Capital Region (NCR) after August 20, 2021.
“The LGUs [local government units] are at the forefront and they know what is really happening on the ground, but we have to weigh both economic and health factors in our decision. We deem it best to leave the decision to the wisdom and judgment of the IATF,” MMDA and concurrent MMC Chairman Benjamin “Benhur” Abalos Jr. said.
Although the decision of the Metro Manila mayors who are at the “battleground is ‘very critical,’ they seek to find balance of health and economic concerns, thus no recommendation was made but will leave it up to the IATF,” the MMDA chief added.
He, however, assured that whatever community quarantine status will be implemented after August 20, Metro local governments will continue ramping up their Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate (PDITR) measures to further curb and mitigate the spread of the virus, especially this time when the highly transmissible Delta variant has made its inroads in most parts of the country.
“Whatever the decision of the IATF will be, the mayors are committed to continue doubling up their vaccination efforts. Stricter implementation of health protocols and comprehensive testing and contact tracing will also be continuously imposed,” Abalos said.
Abalos explained that the recent enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is different from past ECQs as the government has already started its vaccination program, prioritizing A1 (health-care workers), A2 (senior citizens), and A3 (persons with comorbidities) groups. Vaccination rollout has also started for those who belong to A4 (economic frontliners), and A5 (indigent population) categories.
Missed vaccination goal
Abalos also admitted that the target of 4 million jabs or 250,000 per day while on ECQ, was not achieved. The highest number of administered jabs was recorded on August 12 at 240,000 doses.
“Sustaining the record-high 240,000 administered jabs last August 12 in Metro Manila, which we did during this most recent ECQ, would lower risk classification of health-care utilization rate in Metro Manila,” he explained.
As of August 16, total doses administered stood at 10,716,042 for the entire Metro Manila, out of which 909,969 (90 percent) are senior citizens administered with the first jab and 774,066 (77 percent) with second dose.
Meanwhile, more than 1.7 million (46 percent) individuals with comorbidities in Metro Manila received their first vaccine shot while around 1.3 million (35 percent) already completed their jabs.
“Critical Covid-19 cases are lesser despite the rise in the number of active cases as majority of Metro Manila residents already received their jabs,” Abalos said.
During the ECQ, Abalos inspected several vaccination hubs in several cities in Metro Manila and lauded LGUs for their orderly and systematic vaccination process.
“We see more people outside during this ECQ because of the vaccination, which we intend to finish immediately for NCR [National Capital Region] to achieve population protection, and subsequently herd immunity, the soonest possible time,” he said.
Metro Manila was placed under the strictest quarantine classification since August 6 due to the threat of Covid-19 Delta variant. ECQ will lapse on Friday.
The MMC, composed of the 17 Metro Manila mayors, is the governing and policy-making body of the MMDA.