Following the recent confirmed reports of Delta variant cases in the country, Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo Founder Joey Concepcion, in consultation with the private sector, supports the proposal of implementing a two-week lockdown to mitigate the spread of the Delta variant to save both lives and livelihoods.
“We have to protect the lives of the most vulnerable ones, most especially our unvaccinated kababayans, and continue the aggressive vaccination rollouts while addressing the problem of Delta,” Concepcion said.
He also highlighted the importance of the 4th quarter to the business sector.
“It is the most important quarter of the year. This is where consumers spend [for] Christmas. Election spending will also come. Most businesses [that] lost their income from the previous months will be able to recover,” he added.
According to OCTA Research, the projection based on the behavior of the Delta variant in our ASEAN neighbors suggests that a surge will begin to impact our healthcare system in NCR by the middle of August and hospitals will become overwhelmed by the end of August.
“No ASEAN countries have reversed the surge without locking down major cities. The longer we wait, the harder we can reverse the surge,” Concepcion said.
Meanwhile, Concepcion has expressed his full support should the government push for a two-week lockdown similar to the one we had last March this year.
“We prefer that we solve the problem early and not wait for the problem to get bigger, because then we will have a lockdown for months. That is the most catastrophic thing in our country if that happens in the 4th quarter,” Concepcion said.
“If we have to do it, let us do it. Let us prepare for it. We have to be decisive. We have to move quickly.” (PR) – jlo
