MANILA – The Employers Confederation of the Philippines (ECOP) fears that the National Capital Region (NCR) would go back to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status as cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 continue to rise in Metro Manila and some hospitals have reached their full capacity for Covid-19 patients.
“ECOP is gravely concerned that going back to ECQ will make it all the more difficult for the economy to bounce back. Under this scheme, only businesses offering selected essential services will be allowed to operate,” ECOP said in a statement Friday.
It said decision-makers should use extensive profiling for targeted interventions instead of locking down Metro Manila again, where most businesses are located.
ECOP President Sergio Ortiz-Luis said it is an injustice to blame people who are going out for work in the increasing Covid-19 infections in the country, especially in the National Capital Region.
“Government needs to respond based on data from improved contact tracing. While I understand that geographic-based indicators are now available already, we still need to get the other factors, such as the nature of work and workplace, gender, and health condition. Then the intervention can be more specific, well-targeted, and localized quarantine measures may be put in place,” Ortiz-Luis added.
Presidential Adviser for Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion also said returning to ECQ would be a threat to businesses that have just reopened their operations.
Concepcion said that instead of Metro Manila reverting to ECQ, lockdowns should be at a “granular level”, whether it’s a building, road, or barangay.
“We try to avoid quarantining a city, especially not NCR. But as much as possible, if the cases cannot be controlled, then we may opt to quarantine the city,” he said in his closing remarks in the virtual celebration of the National MSME Week on Friday.
Concepcion said he met with some Metro Manila mayors on Friday morning and most of them are focused on the granular approach for community quarantine.
He underscored the need to boost testing.
Concepcion said Covid-19 testing through rapid test kits (RTKs) implemented by companies has helped businesses revisit their health protocols and determine their strategies.
To date, Project ARK (antibody rapid test kits) led by Concepcion has done 1.6 million Covid-19 tests using RTKs. (PNA)
