The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) on Tuesday said stricter COVID-19 quarantine measures than those already in place would worsen hunger and drive up unemployment, as the country already loses P700 million in salaries per day in areas spent under a general community quarantine (GCQ).
At a Palace briefing, acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua said had the government imposed two weeks of a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in response to the current surge in COVID-19 cases, the number of hungry people would rise by 58,000 from the current 3.2 million, and the number of unemployed would rise by 128,500 from the current 506,000.
“We have been in lockdown or quarantine for a year, and as a result 3.2 million people or 23% of NCR (National Capital Region) people are hungry according to the SWS survey. There are also 506,000 jobless in NCR according to the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) survey,” Chua said.
“And every day that we are still in GCQ, it causes the NCR people and the adjacent provinces—Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite—to lose P700 million in wages per day, because the economy cannot fully open,” he added.
The NEDA chief also cited PSA data that each person in the country lost P23,000 a day in income and wages for the entire year the Philippines was under quarantine.
“So the average is P2.8 billion per day or per person, the average lost for the entire year is P23,000. This average isn’t a good figure, because some lost jobs and were hit much harder, especially in some sectors that have been closed, because they were not essential sectors,” Chua said.
A NEDA cost-benefit study also estimated non-COVID deaths at 78,599; and foregone treatment for high burden diseases at 75,000.
On the other hand, a two-week MECQ would prevent up to 266,194 new cases and reduce the number of deaths by up to 4,738.
Despite the NEDA warning, Metro Manila mayors voted to close gyms, spas, and internet cafes for the next two weeks, presidential
The Palace official issued the announcement a day after he said gyms and fitness centers can operate at 75 percent capacity and that spas can operate at 50 percent capacity in Metro Manila and the nearby provinces that were in a general community quarantine bubble.
Roque said the order was in accordance with guidelines from the Department of Trade and Industry, which give local executives the power to shutter establishments to prevent the spread of infections.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte – who called for a balance between health restrictions and economic activity on Monday—approved more restrictive quarantine measures in Metro Manila and four provinces in Calabarzon and in Central Luzon for two weeks.
This heeded the call of health care workers and experts for a temporary lockdown to prevent the spread of COVID 19 cases.
But the OCTA Research group said stricter restrictions imposed on Metro Manila and its neighboring areas in the “bubble’ are unlikely to bring down the reproduction umber of the coronavirus to 1 within two weeks.