By Alec Go
Malacañang on Thursday (Sept. 1) said OCTA Research Group’s recommendation to impose a three-week hard lockdown on COVID-19 hotspots is not doable.
During his Thursday briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said preparing hospitals for possible patient admission and vaccination will aid in balancing the pandemic and its economic impact.
“Sa ngayon po, parang hindi po doable iyan. Dahil nakikita naman po natin na ayaw nating lalo pang dumami ang hanay ng mga nagugutom. We are aiming for total health,” he said.
“Ang ating objective doon sa less than 2% na kinakailangang ma-hospital, pinaghahandaan po natin ito, dapat mayroon nga silang mapupuntahang hospital,” he added.
OCTA’s Prof. Guido David said in an Aug. 31 Teleradyo interview that a hard lockdown may be imposed or cases may spike to the point of having “mass graves.”
As of Sept. 2, the country’s intensive care unit (ICU) and ward bed utilization are at 73%, while the utilization of isolation beds and ventilators are at 67% and 60%, respectively.
Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) said they have yet to finalize a decision on whether to implement granular lockdowns without imposing community quarantine classifications.
Meanwhile, the official said booster shot funds have been included in the proposed national budget. However, he said discussions on the matter should be done at a later time as the country’s vaccination coverage is still around 18%. – jlo
