NEDA: Another 2-Week MECQ Will Worsen Hunger, Unemployment

NEDA: Another 2-Week MECQ Will Worsen Hunger, Unemployment

NEDA – The National Economic and Development Authority (NEDA) said that having MECQ for another 2-weeks will worsen hunger and unemployment.

NEDA
Image from: AutoIndustriya

It defended the new quarantine restrictions that allow travel only within Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces.

Acting Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick Chua presented a a cost-benefit analysis of two weeks of modified enhanced community quarantine or its equivalent, should the administration choose to implement MECQ amid the surge of COVID-19 cases.

Chua said that the number of hungry Filipinos would rise by 58,000 from the current 3.2 million, added that the number of unemployed Filipinos would climb by 128,500 from the current 506,000.

It also pegged non-COVID deaths at 78,599; and foregone treatment for high burden diseases at 75,000.

In exchange, a 2-week MECQ will prevent up to 266,194 new cases of COVID-19, and stop up to 4,738 new deaths or 1.38% of the new cases. It will also prevent 11,626 new severe or critical cases.

“Yan po yung proseso na ginawa ng IATF, always based on the data and the recommendation based on science,”

Based on the report, non-essential entry and exit into the “NCR Plus” bubble is banned starting March 22 to April 4, 2021. The bubble covers Metro Manila, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, and Bulacan, which will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ).

Travel within the bubble, however, is not restricted as the Philippine National Police (PNP) said that the screening of travelers should not be done in checkpoints inside the NCR Plus.

What do you think of this report? How will you react to this? Let us know more about it in the comments below.

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