Restaurants and businesses in other industries reopened consumers Wednesday when the Philippine government eased the closure of COVID-19 in Manila city and surrounding areas, but medical experts warned that resolution was premature and could cause another increase in infections.
Restaurants and grocery stores in and around the Philippine Capital Region have been allowed to allow a limited number of consumers to return and eat or shop on site, provided consumers wear masks and practice social estrangement to protect against the viral epidemic.
The reopening came two days after President Rodrigo Duterte announced that his administration was moving the metropolitan domain of Manila and 4 densely urbanized suburban spaces to a more comfortable “general network quarantine.” This meant that companies deemed non-essential, such as restaurants and grocery shopping malls, could simply resume their operations.
“We’ll have to reopen to resume business. We can no longer rely on government benefits,” said Daisy Ramiro, 54, a retired teacher who runs a small place to eat in Pasay, a city in metropolitan Manila.
“I hope to have more customers, but will they come? That is, especially with this new strain of virus,” he told BenarNews.
The blockade was eased a day after the announcement here that a more infectious strain of COVID-19, the D614G variant of the 2019 coronavirus disease virus, had been detected in Quezon City, a giant city in metropolitan Manila. The same strain has been linked to epidemics in Europe and New York, and has been provided in Singapore since February. The D614G strain has also been detected in Malaysia in at least 4 cases of COVID-19 connected to the Philippines and India, the country’s fitness director announced this week.
At a Manila bus terminal, dozens of passengers dressed in masks or face protectors covered the social estrangement while waiting for trips to take them to work.
“I know we would possibly be putting ourselves in danger, but what can you do? We also want the paintings to survive,” a government painter Justin Rosario told BenarNews as he waited to get on his bus.
Increased infections
The easing of quarantine measures took effect even as infections recorded through the Department of Health continued to increase. President Duterte had passed over the metropolitan domain of Manila and his scenario intensified quarantine in early August, after doctors suggested to his government that he do so in reaction to a new wave of COVID-19 infections.
The Philippines has lately the number of cases shown of COVID-19 in East Asia. By Wednesday afternoon, the total number of instances across the country had reached 173,744, with 4,650 new instances registered in the last 24 hours. The number of deaths from the disease increased from 111 to 2795.
Dr. Anthony Leachon, a former member of the COVID-19 government working group, said the government would possibly have lifted quarantine protocols too soon for the economy. It has been greatly affected by the domino effects of the pandemic and similar lockouts since mid-March.
“It’s a difficult call to balance fitness and the economy,” he said, noting that an increase in the unemployment rate in the midst of a recession may have forced the government to open up.
“Mobility is a key factor in viral spread,” he said, adding that the government will need to step up its efforts to build capacity in the fitness formula and, without delay, combat overcrowding in hospitals.
And with the number of infections expanding to an average of 3,000 new cases according to the day, the country will most likely revel in more deaths, the government has insisted that most inflamed people have mild symptoms, doctors said.
“What you see as instances happens now, it doesn’t happen to see them die today,” Benjamin Co, head of the pediatric infectious diseases segment at the University of Santo Tomas Hospital, told reporters Tuesday.
“The effects will be visual 4 to 8 weeks later, especially for the most serious ones. They’re intubated. They’re under intensive care,” he said.
Basilio Sepe contributed to this from Manila.