Duterte adviser pushes selective quarantine

Limit extension to infected barangays – Concepcion

MANILA, Philippines — Selective quarantine at the barangay level may be more acceptable than either total lifting or extending in its current scope the Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine after it ends on April 30, presidential adviser for entrepreneurship and Go Negosyo founder Joey Concepcion said yesterday.

“Let us not penalize the barangays that are infection-free and have followed the President’s orders to stay home for six weeks,” Concepcion said in a statement yesterday.

Based on Concepcion’s proposal, community quarantine should be extended for barangays with high rate of infection of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

“This all serves as an incentive for the mayors, barangay captains and the residents to keep their barangays safe, with no new cases,” Concepcion said.

Under a barangay quarantine approach, local government officials like the mayor and barangay captains are empowered to extend the lockdown of their respective communities, particularly if the number of COVID-19 cases are high.

Concepcion said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is drafting guidelines for placing barangays under quarantine after April 30.

“When we say barangay quarantine, you don’t start by locking down a certain city, you start by considering quarantines for barangays that have high infection rates,” he said.

Through the barangay quarantine, communities most vulnerable to COVID-19 would be identified and given resources and services to help stop the further spread of the disease.

“At this point in time, I believe every mayor and every barangay captain understands the risks and what is at stake. Hopefully, in the coming weeks, our rapid testing capabilities will improve,” Concepcion said.

Depending on the number and location of confirmed cases per area, a barangay quarantine can be expanded to become a city or municipality quarantine, or even a provincial quarantine.

Such procedure, he said, would enable the police and the military to focus on areas most affected.

In addition, testing of barangay residents could be undertaken to determine the level of risk within the community.

Concepcion said he is confident the strategy, if implemented successfully, would help bring back public confidence and revive the economy now reeling from the impact of lockdown.

When proper testing is in place and the virus is contained at the barangay level, key industries can resume operations and the essential workforce can safely return to work.

While a cure for COVID-19 has yet to be found, Concepcion said the barangay quarantine is the most sustainable approach to contain the coronavirus.

The Luzon-wide lockdown, which took effect on March 17, was supposed to have been lifted on April 12. It was extended to April 30 to give way to mass testing which began on April 14.