National Task Force (NTF) Covid-19 chief implementer, Secretary Carlito Galvez recommended on Wednesday to place the city under general community quarantine (GCQ).

During the meeting of Regional Covid-19 Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) here, Galvez said the more restrictive quarantine classifications should also be declared in specific areas with high Covid-19 cases, based on the Department of Health’s (DOH) assessment.

Galvez said he was concerned that declaring either ECQ or MECQ in the entire city would put severe constraints on the city’s economy.

“We have to balance the economy and livelihood. We should remove those people who are placed under home quarantine,” he said.

He suggested that patients under home quarantine should be placed in patient care centers, and their close contacts must be tested and isolated within four weeks.

“The number of cases will decrease like what we did in the areas of Bacolod City, Cebu City, Batangas, and Regions 3 and 4 where cases were already stabilized due to this method,” he pointed out.

Galvez said the recent spikes in cases here could be attributed to the social gatherings allowed under MGCQ.

“Most MGCQ areas have spiked up their Covid cases. Also, if we have numerous people on home quarantine, next to that is community transmission which made it very difficult to control,” he said.

He said the NTF is ready to form a special team to address the surge of Covid-19 cases in the city if Mayor Sara Z. Duterte allows it.

“Personnel deployed in Cebu and Bacolod would come here to help move patients under home quarantine to an isolation facility,” Galvez said.

Meanwhile, Mayor Sara told the Philippine News Agency in a Viber message Wednesday evening that she was only waiting for any order from the national government on the GCQ classification to be implemented in the city. (PNA)