MANILA – Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) Secretary Ramon Lopez has reiterated his call for business establishments to strictly implement the minimum health protocols as more sectors are now allowed to open as quarantine measures ease.
In a Palace briefing Tuesday, Lopez said even if there is no significant increase in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases when areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) transitioned to general community quarantine (GCQ), it is important to impose strict health standards in workplaces to limit the transmission of the virus.
“It is important to follow the health protocol as they go back to operation. As long as we’re following these health standards, we can limit the transmission. That is what we want for all kinds of businesses to comply with as more sectors are returning to their operations,” he said.
On June 1, Metro Manila, Central Luzon, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Cagayan Valley, Pangasinan, Albay and Davao City were placed under GCQ while the rest of the country was under a more relaxed modified GCQ (MGCQ).
“Moving from MECQ to GCQ, it did not become more serious. Even the positivity rate, as I remember, it did not worsen,” Lopez said in Filipino.
In a media briefing earlier, Department of Health Secretary Francisco Duque III said that of the 331 test results released Monday, 114 confirmed cases were from the National Capital Region, which is relatively lower than the previous results.
When asked whether the new numbers are the effect of the transition to GCQ, Duque said, “you cannot make that correlation”, adding that data will be released on Wednesday where the Inter-Agency Task Force can base their decision to ease or escalate the current quarantine measures.
Moreover, National Policy Against Covid-19 Deputy Chief Implementer Vivencio Dizon said Tuesday the country has increased its testing capacity and can soon include asymptomatic individuals.
Dizon also believes that the Covid-19 cases did not worsen in the country as the positivity rate for coronavirus has declined even with higher testing capacity per day. (PNA)
