Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo on Sunday warned the country’s Covid-19 response managers against a sudden easing of restrictions in Metro Manila and nearby areas even if Covid-19 cases in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus are starting to decline.
In his online commentary show “Counterpoint”, Panelo said it is better to have an “abundance of caution” since there is still a shortage of Covid-19 vaccine supply.
“Mas mabuting there is an abundance of caution than a dirt of complacency or recklessness. ‘Yan ang ating paniniwala diyan (It is better to have an abundance of caution that a dirt of complacency or recklessness. That’s my belief),” he said.
Unlike the United States that has practically lifted its mask-wearing policy for those fully vaccinated against Covid-19, Panelo said the same cannot yet be done in the Philippines.
The US reached another milestone in its Covid-19 vaccination efforts on May 25 with half of adults now fully vaccinated.
In the Philippines, nearly 5 million doses of Covid-19 vaccine have been administered since the country launched its vaccination drive on March 1.
“Hindi tayo puwede gumaya sa Amerika. Dahil sa Amerika, madami na silang nabakunahan. Milyon-milyon nah o. E tayo apat na milyon pa lang going five. Matagal pa (We cannot be like America because they have vaccinated a lot already. Millions already. But we, we have just breached 4 million, going 5 million. It’s going to take time),” he said.
Delay due to supply problems
Panelo said the delay in the delivery of Covid-19 vaccines to the Philippines was due to supply problems and not alleged mismanagement by the government.
“Yung rollout natin, hindi tuluy-tuloy at hindi ho kasalanan ng pamahalaan ‘yan, hindi nanggagaling sa ’tin yung source e. Dependent tayo dun sa pagdating ng mga bakuna (Our rollout is not continuous but it’s not the government’s fault because the source doesn’t come from us. We are dependent on the arrival of vaccines),” he added.
He, meanwhile, urged the public to continue observing minimum health and safety standards such as wearing of face masks, face shields, handwashing, and physical distancing, noting that people can still get Covid-19 even after getting vaccinated.
On Tuesday, the OCTA Research Group recommended retaining the general community quarantine (GCQ) status in NCR Plus in June to avoid a situation where people become “very complacent.”
NCR Plus, compose of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, is under GCQ “with heightened restrictions'” until May 31.
OCTA Research fellow Guido David said the “with heightened restrictions” part of the quarantine classification can now be relaxed.
On Saturday, health authorities reported 7,533 more patients who recovered from Covid-19 but 7,443 new infections have also been reported, bringing the country’s active cases to 53,614.
The Department of Health also logged 153 new fatalities, pushing the death toll to 20,722.
The country’s recovery tally is now at 1,142,246 or 93.9 percent of the overall infections since March last year.