The World Health Organization (WHO) warned against the plan to place the entire country under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).
This was stated by WHO Representative to the Philippines Dr. Rabindra Abeyasinghe in a public briefing on Thursday.
According to Dr. Abeyasinghe, the relaxed quarantine classification may result to increased number of Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases especially now that a new variant is spreading. He also pointed out that the vaccination of a large part of the population might take months.
“We still need to be conscious of the fact that there is a relatively high level of transmission in the community and that situation is complicated by the new variants. So, I believe we still need to maintain these restrictions.”
However, he supported the relaxed status in several “key areas” from which the economy will benefit. It is to balance the economic benefits and the possible threat it will cause to the health of the public.
“I think this pandemic has demonstrated the need for both health and economy to go hand in hand.”
-PTV News
