EVEN if the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Luzon is finally lifted later this month as scheduled, business operations within the area will still face significant restrictions due to the threat of the novel coronavirus disease (Covid-19), officials said on Wednesday, as they also weighed proposals for a “phased or gradual” lifting.
In an online press briefing, Cabinet Secretary and Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) spokesperson Karlo Nograles noted that social distancing will remain as the “new normal” until a cure or vaccine against the pandemic disease is finally discovered.
“So we [IATF] will continue with our job of issuing guidelines to ensure there will be no massive transmission [in that scenario],” Nograles said.
Nograles issued the statement in response to a pronouncement made by Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion III in a television interview on Tuesday that he is pushing for the end of the ECQ in Luzon on April 15, 2020, and for the government to shift into a “barangay-based quarantine.”
Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez said he and the business leaders also support a “phased lifting or gradual lifting” of the quarantine in Luzon.
Lopez said even the business community is wary of the potential threat from the total lifting of the quarantine measures for Luzon.
“Businesses should resume so they could provide livelihood to our citizens. But again this should go with the new norm of social distancing,” Lopez said.
Too early
Sentro ng mga Nagkakaisa at Progresibong Manggagawa secretary-general Joshua Mata expressed concern on the new statements of business groups, which he said may pressure the government to prematurely lift Covid-related quarantines.
“We would obviously appreciate if the lockdown is lifted. But such a decision should be taken not in the interests of business or politics. It should be taken on the basis of a well though out medical plan, which we haven’t been hearing for a long time,” Mata said.
Nograles stressed the IATF has yet to make an official decision whether the ECQ will be lifted as scheduled on April, 13, 2020, or will be extended or even expanded to other areas.
He noted the IATF is still waiting for the recommendation of its technical working group (TWG) led by DOH before it decides on the matter.
The DOH-led TWG is tasked to set the parameters for the IATF to determine if there will be a partial lifting or total lifting of the ECQ, and what areas will remain under quarantine.
Nograles said the final decision of the IATF on the matter will be based on “science” and “facts and figures.”
Business adjustment
For its part, the IATF’s second TWG headed by the National Economic and Development Authority (Neda) is now making “anticipatory planning” on the economic activities, which may be allowed to resume once the lockdown in Luzon is finally lifted.
Nograles said it will study how work could resume, under the “new normal” of business operations focused on social distancing.
Mata, however, said the resumption of business operations in the aftermath of ECQ will be easier said than done since it will involve a lot of adjustments in workplaces, especially with the government emphasis on social distancing.
“It will be very difficult for a lot of companies to adjust, because the current setup [of many companies] is not designed for physical distancing. A lot of change will have to be made in the design, and layout of factory will have to be changed because of this,” Mata said.
He also said if businesses resume, companies should have access to reliable test kits at the plant level to ensure Covid-19 will not spread in their worksites.
This was affirmed by Lopez, who said testing employees will become part of a company’s culture.
Facility designation
As of April 1, 2020, the number of confirmed Covid-19 cases nationwide has already reached 2,311. The disease has already killed 96 people.
The mounting number of Covid-19 cases has prompted the government to start preparing additional quarantine facilities to help decongest hospitals from Covid-19 patients.
Nograles said patients with severe and moderate symptoms of Covid-19 will be prioritized in hospitals.
Meanwhile, those with mild symptoms will be housed in large quarantine facilities.
Patients under investigation—they have Covid-like symptoms but still have pending test results to determine if they are infected —will stay in separate rooms in a quarantine facility.
The IATF, Nograles said, has yet to determine how it will handle persons under monitoring (PUM).
Nograles said it is now considering ships, hotels and large venues such as the Philippine International Convention Center, World Trade Center, the Rizal Memorial Sports Complex as quarantine facilities.
Image credits: AP/Aaron Favila