MANILA – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) supports localized quarantines and increased restrictions instead of a “blanket” lockdown.
NEDA said this helps curb the spread of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) while still allowing economic activity.
Calibrated and localized quarantines are needed to address spikes in COVID-19 case so that “jobs or livelihoods will not be affected,” acting Socioeconomic Planning secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in a statement on Monday.
Strict, prolonged and blanket community quarantine cost some P2.1 billion in daily wages, he said.
The new measure approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, which placed Metro Manila, Cavite, Bulacan, and Rizal under two-week general community quarantine, allows businesses and services to operate.
Under the measure, transport and businesses are allowed to operate, essential workers are allowed entry travel and outdoor dining is also permitted.
“In order to save lives from COVID-19 and non-COVID-19 threats, the IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) recommended to add restrictions in specific areas without constraining the overall mobility of people,” Chua said.
“The issue is not simply economy versus health. It is about addressing the total health of our people, whether from COVID, non-COVID sickness, or hunger. Rest assured that the government’s goal, first and foremost, is to save lives,” he added.
Millions found themselves jobless or underemployed when the lockdown was imposed in mid-March last year, which shuttered transport, schools, and businesses.
At least four million Filipinos in the labor force were jobless in January this year, data showed.
Chua assured the public that the government would strengthen its programs against the pandemic, including the rollout of the vaccination program.(ABS-CBN News)
