WITH the April 30 time limit for the government-imposed lockdown of Luzon less than two weeks away, calls for lifting or at least significantly loosening the “enhanced community quarantine” are growing in volume. As with everything related to the Wuhan Virus pandemic, the solution, once the country reaches that decision point, would be neither simple nor universally satisfactory. The real dilemma is that, while the lockdown is necessary to address the real problem — that there is a highly infectious and potentially lethal virus spreading through the population — it is creating others that make it increasingly difficult to maintain. The only real option for the government is to work more swiftly to implement the test-isolate-treat model, “clearing” areas one by one, so that restrictions can be progressively lifted. That, of course, is unlikely to happen, given the administration’s antagonism so far toward local initiative in any place that is not Davao.

Source: Manila Times April 18, 2020 16:30 UTC