The OCTA Research Group on Tuesday (July 13) said the National Capital Region (NCR) should remain under general community quarantine to maintain its current COVID-19 situation and amid the Delta variant threat.
OCTA Research fellows Prof. Guido David and Dr. Ranjit Rye said in the July 13 Laging Handa briefing that several establishments can be opened, but the improvements in the NCR situation should be maintained to prevent a surge.
“Sa NCR, I think we should continue with the GCQ. Pwede tayo magluwag doon sa business establishments. Kaya ko sinasabi ito [ay dahil] may banta tayo ng Delta [variant],” Rye said.
“Although maganda ang situation sa NCR, kailangan po ay ma-sustain natin ito habang sinasabayan natin ang pag-increase ng vaccination natin… We are not ready for MGCQ. We do not qualify kahit based on the government’s criteria for MGCQ,” Rye added.
David also reported that COVID-19 data outside NCR has been improving. However, there are still places considered as areas of concern.
“May nakita tayong spike sa Mariveles in Bataan. Nag-register sila more than 200 cases in one day. We’re not sure kung just clustering dahil sa late reporting. Then may pagtaas din tayong nakita sa Central Visayas, hindi naman siya alarming,” David said.
Meanwhile, the group expressed optimism that the health department can achieve its target to fully vaccinate 90% of senior citizens next month. It also pushed for the vaccine rollout prioritization of NCR Plus 8 areas to aid recovery.
Tracing
Speaking in the Laging Handa briefing, contact tracing czar and Baguio City Mayor Benjamin Magalong noted anew the importance of contact tracing amid the emergence of variants.
He said the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) has been looking for additional funds for the contract extension of hired contact tracers until year-end.
Magalong said the training of current 249,000 tracers nationwide is also ongoing. – Report from Patrick de Jesus/AG-rir
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