Quarantine status for areas in CAR, Calabarzon, Region XI may change in January —Palace

December 26 ------ The community quarantine classifications for areas in three regions might change in January as the government continues to monitor the COVID-19 situation there, Malacañang said Tuesday. “Ang mga lugar na titingnan natin ay iyong CAR, iyong IV-A [Calabarzon] at saka ang Region XI, iyan po ang mga candidates na baka mabago pa ang classification,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said at a news conference. In its latest report, the OCTA Research group identified the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Isabela, Leyte, Pangasinan, South Cotabato and Negros Oriental as “areas of concern" due to an increase in COVID-19 cases.

Nationwide, it also observed that from December 13 to 19, the number of new cases per day increased from 1,367 to 1,484. OCTA also said that given the “real threat of a surge in the NCR,” local government units concerned should start preparing public health systems and personnel as well as increasing health care capacity to deal with the influx of cases in the next few weeks. “Iyong pagtaas po ng quarantine classification isa pong aspeto diyan ay iyong daily attack rate; two-week average rate, at saka itong hospital care utilization rate. Kung magpapatuloy po ang trend siguro po sa Enero titingnan natin,” Roque said.

“Hindi lang naman tinitingnan iyong capacity ng isang probinsiya lamang, tinitingnan iyong regional at saka titingnan din natin iyong karatig na region. For example, iyong IV-A puwede naman silang pumunta ng Metro Manila kung hindi rin masyadong mataas sa Metro Manila,” he added. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) will make recommendations to President Rodrigo Duterte on the community quarantine classifications in the country for January after Christmas.

Source: gmanetwork.com