Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez
MANILA – As community quarantine measures are still implemented in the country for six months, Trade Secretary Ramon Lopez favors granular lockdowns than large-scale restrictions.
“The mindset is to move away from community quarantine and have (a) granular approach in lockdown,” Lopez said at a conference of advocacy group Flatten the Fear Philippines Thursday.
The group is composed of concerned doctors and citizens helping the country to “flatten the fear” against coronavirus disease (Covid-19) by presenting clear actionable plans promoting measures to prevent the spread of the virus and early treatment protocol.
Lopez added that instead of putting a city on lockdown, restrictions in smaller areas like a barangay or a building should be implemented. The area should be immediately isolated and disinfected before reopening.
“Instead of heavy lockdown, we can have the granular lockdown,” he said.
Lopez said the economy has suffered so much due to heavy lockdowns that were implemented at the onset of the Covid-19 outbreak in the country.
In the second quarter of the year, gross domestic product declined by 16.5 percent.
In April, the unemployment rate dropped to 17.7 percent before easing to a negative growth of 10 percent in July.
“What we are saying in DTI and members of (the) economic development cluster, by now we should be managing the risk after six months in community quarantine,” he said.
The trade chief vowed the government is not opening the economic activities recklessly, adding many workplace protocols have been put in place in different sectors.
“We minimize the risk; manage the risk to allow the reopening of the economy. We are not opening recklessly,” he said. (PNA)
