Palace: Three-week hard lockdown in COVID-19 hotspots 'not doable'
MANILA, Philippines — The Palace deemed a proposed three-week hard lockdown "not doable", saying also that the national government is aiming for "total health" and looking to avoid worsening hunger caused by the economic downturn, it said Thursday.
The OCTA Research Group earlier Tuesday called for a three-week hard lockdown in COVID-19 hotspots in the country as it pointed out that the surge in cases in the country had not yet hit its peak. The government has avoided using the term "surge" to describe the rise in COVID-19 cases.
"Right now it doesn't look doable because we can see that we don't want to add to those who are hungry...our objective is less than two percent in need of hospitalization is what we're preparing for. They should be able to find hospitals," presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in Filipino.
"Even though our ICU beds are at critical levels, they still aren't completely full up."
DOH: Focus is on minimizing severe and critical cases
Alethea de Guzman, director of the DOH epidemiological bureau, said that with the volume of new cases, the government's goal has shifted towards minimizing severe and critical cases and reducing the number of fatalities.
"Nationally, we're still under high-risk classification...All areas in NCR are at high risk in terms of case classification," she said in Filipino, adding that that the government is focused on augmenting health capacity, decongesting hospitals, and implementing public health standards in closed and crowded areas.
Roque in his presentation also said that more than 52.6 million doses of COVID-19 vaccines have arrived in the country, with more than 20 million people having received their first dose.
Metro Manila Development Authority chief Benhur Abalos said that Metro Manila mayors were adamant on hitting vaccination targets first before instituting new policies against the virus, including possible lockdowns and segregations on the unvaccinated.
Out of Metro Manila's eligible population of around 9.8 million, 80.6% or 7.9 million have already received their first vaccine dose
The virus reproduction rate has already gone down in the National Capital Region, but an increase in new cases is still seen to persist at a slower pace, the OCTA Research Group said earlier Thursday.
To date, health authorities have recorded over two million coronavirus infections in the Philippines.
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