By NG Seruela
The OCTA Research group suggested maintaining the general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions in the NCR Plus on Monday (May 31).
In a Laging Handa public briefing, OCTA Research fellow Dr. Butch Ong said that it is best to “study” further the data of the NCR Plus before relaxing the quarantine measures.
“So, siguro, dapat pag-aralan pa ng maigi kung ready na ba tayong bumaba sa MGCQ dahil ang ating trending sa NCR Plus ay hindi pa stable.”
He added that the current reproduction number of the NCR Plus is at 0.69 and that the COVID-19 downtrend of the said areas is slowing down. Ong reported that the new cases per day reached 7,000 to 8,000 in the last few days.
“According sa datos ng DOH, ang ating reproduction number ngayon ay nasa 0.69 at bumabagal ang pagbaba ng ating reproduction number”
Ong recommended placing the NCR Plus under the heightened GCQ while opening the industries slowly.
“Let’s study for one more week. We can still go for the heightened GCQ and observe the trending this coming week. “
He also emphasized that by vaccinating most of the NCR Plus residents at an earlier date, the stabilization of the COVID-19 cases in the country can also be achieved at an earlier time. -rir
