Experts studying the coronavirus pandemic in the Philippines urged the government to maintain general community quarantine (GCQ) in Metro Manila until the end of July.

The Octa Research group made the call in a briefing aired on state-run PTV on Tuesday, July 13.

“In NCR (National Capital Region), we should continue with GCQ. We can just ease restrictions on business establishments. We say this because there is still the threat of the Delta variant,” Octa Research fellow Ranjit Rye said in a mix of English and Filipino.

“For me, we’re not yet ready for MGCQ (modified GCQ). Based on the government criteria for MGCQ, we won’t qualify for it as of now,” he added.

The country has so far reported 19 cases of the Delta variant, which is believed to be driving the surge in infections in India and a number of other countries.

President Rodrigo Duterte is set to announce the new quarantine classifications in the country this week, as current restrictions are set to lapse on Thursday, July 15.

Rye called on the government to strengthen enforcement of minimum public health standards.

“Hindi pa tapos ang laban, napakatagal pa. Ang vaccination drive natin kailangan natin i-accelerate ‘yan,” he said. (The fight isn’t over. We should accelerate our vaccination drive.)

In particular, Rye said, the government must continue to ramp up vaccination in “NCR Plus 8,” composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Laguna, Pampanga, Batangas, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.

The focus on “NCR Plus 8” is part of the government’s strategy to deploy vaccines to areas reporting high numbers of cases.

Uptick in cases in 7 NCR cities

In a separate briefing on Tuesday morning, the Department of Health (DOH) said it saw an uptick in COVID-19 cases in seven cities in Metro Manila.

“These are the cities of Makati, San Juan, Muntinlupa, Mandaluyong, Manila, Malabon, and Navotas,” said Dr. Alethea de Guzman of the DOH Epidemiology Bureau.

De Guzman said that after having negative two-week growth rates from June 13 to 26, the cities logged positive growth rates from June 27 to July 10.

Despite this, De Guzman said the Philippines remains to be a “low-risk” area for COVID-19. The World Health Organization last week asked the DOH to be cautious in tagging the country as such because the public needs to be aware that the risk is still there.

In another report, the Octa team said Metro Manila’s case growth rate over the past three weeks had averaged -3%, which indicates that the trend is “nearly level or flat.”

As of Tuesday, the Philippines has 1,481,660 cases of COVID-19, with 26,092 deaths and 1,408,634 recoveries. Of the total cases, 46,934 are active or currently sick. – Rappler.com