GMA News
DOH defends NCR's transition to GCQ despite Thursday's record high
The Department of Health (DOH) defended Metro Manila's transition to a general community quarantine (GCQ), asserting that the country's condition is improving despite a record-high of 539 new COVID-19 cases reported on Thursday.
Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire stated that the decision to move to GCQ considered multiple factors beyond just the number of cases, including deaths, case doubling time, and healthcare facility utilization rates.
She explained that the case doubling time in Metro Manila has improved to seven days, a significant decrease from the two to three days observed before the enhanced community quarantine in March.
Vergeire attributed the spike in cases to the DOH's increased capacity to validate cases due to newly hired encoders.
The DOH remains confident that Metro Manila can manage COVID-19 under GCQ with established minimum health standards and strengthened health systems.
Economic, security, and social assistance factors were also considered by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) in their decision-making.
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