Hard lockdown in NCR to cost economy P105B each week

MANILA – The economy could lose P105 billion for each week Metro Manila is under hard lockdown, based on the latest estimate of the National Economic and Development Authority released Friday.

The imposition of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) will also increase the number of poor people by up to 177,000 and the unemployed by 444,000, Socioeconomic Planning secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said in a statement.

This, after the country’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) task force announced that President Rodrigo Duterte approved a recommendation to place Metro Manila under ECQ from Aug. 6 to Aug. 20 to arrest the spread of the highly transmissible COVID-19 Delta variant.

A hard lockdown limits movements to only authorized individuals and essentials and further reduces operational capacity of transport and businesses, resulting in earnings and job losses.

The foreseen losses can be partially reversed if the lockdown period will be used to accelerate the vaccination drive in high-risk areas, Chua said.

The ECQ will also be an investment to pave the way for recovery once the new COVID-19 Delta variant is contained.

The official added that the aid would mitigate the impact of the new round of ECQ to Filipinos.

The Philippines aims to inoculate 50 to 70 percent of its over 100 million population by the end of the year. Only 7.8 million people have been fully vaccinated as of July 30.

Chua earlier stated that the pandemic has slightly slowed down the gains of the government when it comes to its poverty reduction campaign.(ABS-CBN News)

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