Everybody is getting worried, if not afraid of course, over the rising number of patients dying due to the highly contagious coronavirus disease 2019, or COVID-19 for short. At the current fatality rate that is rising faster at the global scale in over 114 countries – including here in our own country where it has spread – we face the prospects of exponential growth in the number of people getting infected with COVID-19. Thus, the World Health Organization (WHO) finally elevated COVID-19 last week from public health emergency of international concern into a pandemic.
As of the weekend, there were already eight patients who died of COVID-19 and we broke the 100-mark on infected cases in the Philippines. The biggest jump was registered last Saturday when new COVID infected patients were confirmed positive by the Department of Health (DOH). From 64 last Friday, the DOH announced COVID-19 positive cases spiked to 111 the next day.
This is more worrisome especially for all of us here in Metro Manila where the bulk of COVID-19 positive cases were all due to community transmission. At exactly 12:01 a.m. yesterday, the entire 16 cities and one municipality in Metro Manila were placed under the one-month long “community quarantine” effective until April 14 in a bid to contain the spread of COVID-19.
This was after President Rodrigo Duterte approved last week the recommendations submitted to him by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases. It was the Task Force, chaired by DOH Secretary Dr. Francisco Duque III that recommended the raising of the public health emergency from Red Alert Sub-level-1 to Sub-level 2. It was triggered by the deaths one after the other of Patients 5 and 6 who were a couple from Cainta, Rizal. Patient 5 was the first local case of COVID-19 who infected his wife, Patient 6 is the first local, or community transmission.
Among other things, the “community quarantine” now being enforced over the entire national capital region (NCR) will include soon the imposition of curfew hours from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.
This was approved under a Resolution passed and approved by the Metro Manila Council (MMC) last Saturday. The MMC is composed of all the Metro Manila Mayors along with the Metro Manila Development Authority (MMDA). The nine-hour curfew period is supposed to minimize movement of people from roaming around and going to places on non-essential activities as a way to contain the spread of the flu-like virus but much deadlier.
In the same Resolution, the Metro Manila Mayors urged all legislative councils to also issue an ordinance for the temporary closure of shopping malls and movie houses, except grocery stores, pharmacies, clinics, banks, and restaurants with home deliveries. The temporary closure during this month-long quarantine is supposed to be a social distancing measure since malls are confined places and draw in so much crowd and gathering of people.
These local measures will take effect if the respective legislative councils of the Metro Manila Mayors shall have passed the required local ordinances to enforce them. These ordinances will empower their local police forces and barangay tanod (as force multipliers) to implement these drastic measures to stave off the escalating cases of COVID-19 infection.
Clustered together as one group in addressing the COVID-19 spread, the Metro Manila Mayors decided to adopt these local containment measures at their level after meeting with President Duterte at Malacañang last Monday. It was after meeting with the MM Mayors that the Chief Executive approved the Task Force Resolution that paved the way for the imposition of the so-called “community quarantine” all over NCR.
But hours before President Duterte could even read and run through the various recommended anti-COVID-19 measures, the four-paged copies of the Task Force Resolution were already out circulating in various social media posts. It was so widely circulated that showed the Task Force Resolution was signed already by some of its members while others have yet to sign it.
It triggered talks about “lockdown” to be imposed all over the Philippines and rumors flew thick about purported martial law allegedly now in the works. In the press conference that followed their meeting at Malacañang, President Duterte noticeably tried hard to tone down the panic over “lockdown” rumors. Eventually, he admitted it is indeed a “lockdown” for all intents and purposes. The Davao City Mayor carefully tried to temper his words with fatherly touch that it has to be done in order to protect all Filipinos from getting infected by COVID-19 as much as feasible.
As if these leaks were not enough, Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea found his opening statement “On the Stringent Social Distancing Measures to Address COVID-19” was posted verbatim on Facebook. The President instructed Medialdea to draft the Memorandum Circular (MC) to implement the recommended measures of the Task Force.
Originally, the President announced in that press conference he would just adopt en toto the Task Force Resolution and sign it into an Executive Order (EO). But an EO would require prior publication before it can take effect. Since the Task Force was empowered already by EO 168 that created it in 2015, Medialdea advised the President the MC would suffice.
“That was the first draft of my opening remarks at the Task Force which I read thru phone patch early this afternoon,” Medialdea told Malacañang reporters in a text message Saturday. “As you know I am on house arrest (quarantine). It’s supposed to be confidential. I don’t know how it leaked. I am still trying to find out,” Medialdea vowed.
It was when such “leaks” came out in social media that drove many people into panic buying and mass exodus out of Metro Manila. So how can you implement social distancing with the long queues of people trying to buy sterile alcohol, foodstuff etc.? Then you limit people’s movement, travel and access to grocery stores and supermarkets?
These “leaks” could be much more deadly than the virus we are all trying to avoid getting infected with.