#ncr plus

The OCTA Research Group on Saturday recommended another week-long extension of Enhanced Community Quarantine in Metro Manila and adjacent provinces.

The recommendation came after the record-breaking number of deaths reported in the daily COVID-19 bulletin of the Department of Health.

While the independent panel of researchers noted improvements on virus reproduction rate it also warned that daily new deaths will reach 200 if infections continue to rise by around 10,000 daily.

"Of course, if public health [and] hospitals are our primary consideration, our recommendation is to extend the ECQ so that we can lower the reproduction to less than 1," Professor Guido David told ABS-CBN News.

Another possible scenario according to David is gradually easing the lockdown from ECQ to modified ECQ or MECQ.

Virus reproduction rate in Metro manila has slowed down 1.43 to 1.24 on Wedneday. April 7.

The National Capital Region and its adjacent provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, collectively known as NCR Plus Bubble is currently under ECQ.

The Php22.9-billion ayuda or assistance for residents affected by the Enhanced Community Quarantine in NCR Plus area will be distributed to local government units (LGUs) beginning on Monday.

Interior Undersecretary Bernardo Florece, DILG officer-in-charge, said the Bureau of Treasury will release it directly to the concerned LGUs.

Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya also confirmed this and added that he expects LGUs would start the distribution of ECQ ayuda to their constituents by Tuesday or Wednesday.

Inquire reported that the DILG ordered LGUs to issue an executive order (EO) detailing the process of distribution of assistance to their constituents.

The aid must be given “15 calendars days upon receipt of the funds if the assistance is in cash or within 30 calendar days if assistance is in-kind” according to DILG.

Earlier, the DILG and the Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD) issued the guidelines for the distribution of financial assistance worth PHP1,000 per individual, with a maximum of PHP4,000 per family to residents of Metro Manila, Rizal, Cavite, Laguna and Bulacan.

The Philippines extended the Enhanced Community Quarantine by a week in areas under the NCR Plus bubble.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Saturday that IATF recommended another one-week extension of enhanced community quarantine in Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan beginning April 5.

"Karagdagang linggo, minimum of one additional week beginning on the 5th," Roque said.

The announcement came after the Department of Health and the OCTA Research Group separately proposed the extension of ECQ.

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday approved the distribution of aid for 22.9 million individuals in areas under the week-long Enhanced Community Quarantine.

Among the beneficiaries are low-income individuals who are entitled to receive Php 1,000-worth of in kind aid.

The assistance program will cover at least 80 percent of the population of NCR Plus or Greater Manila Area.

Budget Secretary Wendel Avisado said the aid will be limited to four beneficiaries per family.

Avisado added that the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) will release the funds directly to local government units (LGUs) for distribution.

He added that the aid would be sourced from remaining unutilized funds of second stimulus package or the Bayanihan 2 Law.

Avisado said the aid will be distributed by first week of April if Duterte will approved it immediately.

Meanwhile, Duterte said he is expecting that mayors would do their jobs to distribute the aid allocated for individuals as compensation for the loss of income during the lockdown.

The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday recorded 6,128 additional cases of COVID-19 pushing the total number of coronavirus cases in the Philippines to 747,288.

This is the lowest number of infections recorded since March 23 when DOH logged 5,867 new infections. Six laboratories were unable to submit data to the agency’s COVID-19 Data Repository System.

In a statement, DOH said the number of daily case is low due to a "number of laboratory line list" that was not registered to its data system

The number active cases in the country soared to 130,245. This is the highest number of active cases recorded and the first time that the active cases breached the 130,000-mark since the pandemic started.

DOH also said the recoveries in the country now stands at 603,746, after 491 patients recovered from the virus.

In addition, the agency logged 106 new fatalities, bringing the total number to 13,297 or 1.78 percent of the case count.