No more ‘new normal’ quarantine status

All parts of the Philippines will remain under a form of community quarantine after the COVID-19 task force revised its guidelines.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, who also serves as the spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force, yesterday said a recalibration of current parameters was issued by the IATF.

Under Resolution No. 48, there will only be four levels of community quarantine: the strictest enhanced community quarantine, modified ECQ, general community quarantine, and the most relaxed modified GCQ.

The classification of “new normal,” which means there are no travel and business restrictions as long as minimum health standards are observed, has been removed under the new directive.

 

“Sa ngayon wala munang new normal, ibig sabihin lahat ng lugar sa Pilipinas, meron pa ring community quarantine,” he said in a media briefing.

High-risk areas will be placed on ECQ or MECQ based on case doubling time — or the number of days it takes for cases to double — and critical care utilization rate, which refers to the percentage of mechanical ventilators and isolation beds in temporary facilities as well as hospitals that being utilized. The two rates are used to gauge the health system’s capacity to cope with infections.

Moderate-risk areas will be under GCQ or MGCQ, while low-risk areas will be placed on MGCQ.

The community quarantine issued by President Rodrigo Duterte is set to end on June 30. He is set to issue a fresh order before that date.

For the LGUs who want to appeal their community quarantine status, they need to submit information on daily trend of cases, available isolation beds, health system capacity targets, and utilization.

The country’s coronavirus cases went up to 30,682 on Monday, with the Department of Health reporting another 630 infections. The DOH also added 250 to the tally of recoveries, which rose to 8,143. However, the death toll is now at 1,177, after eight more lost their lives to the disease.* (CNN Philippines)