MANILA, Philippines — As the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) period in the Greater Manila Area—or the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus— is about to end, the OCTA Research group on Saturday urged the national government to extend the lockdown period in the region for one more week.

We should have a two-week period of ECQ where we have strict mobility restrictions,” Professor Ranjit Rye of the OCTA Research group said in a press conference.

“We’re recommending that the ECQ be extended,” he added. “And we’re suggesting maybe a recommendation of this for at least two weeks.”

the group said that should the virus’ reproduction rate not drop drastically within the next seven days, the government should be “prepared to consider the third week of ECQ.”

“As a reference, the United Kingdom had to maintain a tight national lockdown for four months in order to relieve the pressure on their hospital infrastructure from a variant-driven surge,” the group said in its presentation.

Earlier, DOH spokeswoman and undersecretary  Maria Rosario Vergeire also recommended that the ECQ period be extended for another week.

Currently, Metro Manila and its four adjacent provinces of Cavite, Laguna, Bulacan, and Rizal, are under a one-week ECQ period due to a surge in COVID-19 cases.

The ECQ period is set to end on Sunday, April 4.

It was on Friday when the country recorded its highest single-day tally in new COVID-19 cases with 15,310, where 3,709 infections were considered as backlogs.

Source: Inquirer