THE Philippines is back to square one as the government is set to announce the re-imposition of another round of the strictest level of quarantine in the National Capital Region and adjoining provinces amid the alarming surge in figures representing the COVID-19 cases in the country.
An impeccable Palace source said that such measure is most likely although “nothing is final yet.”
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) is reportedly bent on making the recommendation today for President Rodrigo Duterte’s approval.
Taking cue from the OCTA Research group which made a projection that would see the Philippines reaching 740,000 cases by the end of March, the source said that the President may actually consider the idea.
However, the imminent imposition might not be able to include the same provision it has given to those who were affected when the President first declared a strict lockdown sometime in March last year, citing the government’s financial condition.
Asked how long the hard lockdown would be, the source said that it would all depend on the President’s decision.
The OCTA Research has been projecting a downtrend in the number of coronavirus cases in Metro Manila and its adjacent provinces, four weeks after the areas were placed in a “National Capital Region (NCR) Plus” bubble.
To date, the Department of Health has recorded 702,856 confirmed COVID-19 cases following the recent tally which recorded another all-time high — 9,838 new COVID-19 infections just for one day.
Active cases pegged at 109,018 also breached records from last year’s figure.