PINAS ONLINE RADIO NEWS

Presidential Adviser on Entrepreneurship Joey Concepcion said Friday that placing Metro Manila under slightly eased modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until end of the month is good but warned that such lockdown beyond August will be devastating.

"It is not a surprise and the correct thing to do because COVID-19 cases are going up," Concepcion said in an interview with CNN Philippines.

The MECQ protocol bans indoor and outdoor dining indoor and al-fresco dine-in services as well as personal care services including beauty salons, beauty parlors, barbershops and nail spas. Partial operations of these industries were previously allowed under MECQ prior to the emergence of the more infectious Delta variant.

Having said that, Concepcion reiterated that vaccinated bubble or a policy which  allows only fully vaccinated people to access public transport, workplace, malls, and dining establishments must be implemented starting September when 50% of Metro Manila residents, the epicenter of COVID-19 pandemic, are already fully vaccinated.

"The vaccinated bubble is the way forward. We have to prevent the fourth quarter lockdown because that would be devastating," he pointed out.

"We have to protect the unvaccinated, and we should use the vaccinated people to do consumer spending and get the economy moving. Yes, the vaccinated can still get infected but won't need hospital care," he added.

Only 12.8 million Filipinos are fully vaccinated against COVID-19 so far, way behind the target of vaccinating 76.3 million by the end of the year to achieve herd immunity against COVID-19.

"If 90% of Filipinos are already fully vaccinated, then we don't need to implement this vaccinated bubble anymore," Concepcion said.

The government is yet to provide COVID-19 vaccine data on National Capital Region (NCR) Plus 8 areas which the government has identified as priority areas for its COVID-19 vaccination program.

NCR Plus 8 includes Metro Manila, Bulacan, Pampanga, Rizal, Laguna, Cavite, Batangas, Metro Cebu, and Metro Davao.—AOL, GMA News