EDITORIAL - Lockdown

Classes at all levels in both public and private schools have been suspended for a week in Metro Manila to allow for a thorough cleanup and decontamination. Broadcast networks have suspended live audience participation. Authorities are considering flexi-work, a four-day workweek and increased telecommuting.

These are just some of the measures being implemented or under discussion as the country confronts the growing 2019 coronavirus disease contagion. The epicenter, not surprisingly, is the country’s most heavily populated region, Metro Manila.

After several hours of meeting with mayors of the National Capital Region and key Cabinet members on Monday at Malacañang, President Duterte faced the press at around 1 a.m. yesterday and announced the class suspension, but ruled out a Metro-wide lockdown.

Implementing such a lockdown, in the first place, could be complicated in this country where people from all walks of life think they can be exempted from laws and rules for the flimsiest reasons. As in quarantines, a lockdown for public health is best implemented if people themselves voluntarily go along with the measure, fully aware of its objectives and usefulness.

The lockdown will likely remain an option, however, as Italy takes the unprecedented step of locking down the entire country – which effectively also locks down the world’s smallest state, the Vatican. China had locked down large areas including the COVID-19 epicenter, Wuhan City in Hubei province, but perhaps the country is simply too large to lock down in its entirety.

With the lockdown option still on the table for the Philippines, authorities may consider testing it first in a particular area. It will allow authorities to assess the types and number of personnel required for such a measure, the logistics involved, the problems that arise, plus the specific metrics to determine the effectiveness of such a move.

For now, the government must continue the calibrated responses in the complicated balancing act between panic and foolhardy complacency.