LGUs ready to impose granular lockdowns amid uptick in COVID-19 cases —ULAP exec

Local government units are ready to impose granular lockdowns following the uptick of COVID-19 cases in Metro Manila, an official of the Union of Local Authorities of the Philippines (ULAP) said Thursday.

Interviewed on Dobol B TV, ULAP national president and Quirino Gov. Dakila Cua said LGUs are considering the case doubling rate, healthcare capacity, and concentration of cases in imposing lockdowns.

“Handa naman po ang LGUs sa sistemang granular lockdowns. Hindi naman po siya bago at dati na po natin itong ginagawa,” he said.

(LGUs are ready for the granular lockdown system. This is not new and we have done this before.)

Cua said even when COVID-19 cases were declining, LGUs have been establishing and maintaining more isolation units and healthcare capacity.

Despite the uptick in cases, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Wednesday said there is still no basis to raise the alert level in the country.

OCTA Research fellow Dr. Guido David on Tuesday expressed concern after the daily positivity rate in the National Capital Region (NCR) increased to over 5%.

The positivity rate is the percentage of infected people among the total number of individuals tested for the disease.

David warned that the spike could be more than just "a holiday uptick.”

“There is now concern that this is not just a holiday uptick. Please be advised that the situation is changing in the NCR and we must now be very mindful of minimum public health standards,” he said. —KBK, GMA News