OCTA Research: NCR Plus can go back to GCQ May 15—but bubble should stay
The OCTA Research Group said May 10 that new COVID cases in Metro Manila are expected to go down to between 1,700 and 1,800 by May 15. NCR Plus (Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal and Laguna) is under MECQ Flex until May 14.
“With the current development and downward trend, the quarantine classification can definitely be considered to be downgraded to GCQ,” OCTA fellow Dr. Guido David said.
CNN Philippines reported that David is recommending the NCR Plus bubble to remain in effect despite a possible downgrade to GCQ. “One feature that I would like to retain is the bubble. It could be a GCQ bubble because cases are still significant inside the bubble and may ibang LGUs pa with an unstable trend.”
Metro Manila, according to OCTA, averaged 2,172 new cases from May 2 to May 8, down from 3,144 last week.
The downward trend is also seen for the entire country, which logged 7,174 new cases on May 9; 6,946 on May 8; 7,718 cases on May 7; 6,617 on May 6; and 5,665 on May 5—an average of 6,824 in the past five days.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said today the shift for NCR Plus to GCQ is “possible,” but the classification will be decided by the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
“I will not second-guess the IATF but pursuant to the formula, it is possible. Again, the final decision rests with the IATF,” he said in a Palace briefing. “Ang importante ay makamit ang total health kasi kung iiwasan natin ang sakit sa COVID, o mamamatay sa COVID, mas marami ang possibleng maghirap dahil sa kahirapan habang tayo ay nakasarado ang ekonomiya.”
President Duterte, he said, will announce the new quarantine classification before May 15.
The Philipines as of May 9 has a total of 1,109,990 COVID cases and 18,472 deaths.
Banner photo by Kriz-John Rosales