Manila lockdown looms as Delta cases increase

MANILA – As the country anticipates a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases due to the more infectious Delta variant, the capital city of Manila is gearing up for a possible lockdown.

Of the 25 Delta cases in the National Capital Region confirmed by the Department of Health, 10 are from Manila.

Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso and Vice Mayor Honey Lacuna-Pangan held an emergency meeting with the city’s health officials and discussed their action plans.

Domagoso also ordered the Manila Disaster and Risk Reduction Management Office, Manila Barangay Bureau, and Manila Police Department to be on alert in case the city implements granular lockdowns.

Coordination was likewise made with the directors of the city’s six district hospitals, Manila Covid-19 Field Hospital, and the Manila Health Department.

“We don’t want patients dying in parking lots because of the lack of hospital beds,” Domagoso’s statement in Filipino read, adding that the field hospital inside Rizal Park will be put to good use in the unfortunate case of a surge.

As of noontime Wednesday, Manila has 642 active Covid-19 cases after recording 96 new infections.

Sixty-two new recoveries also hiked the total to 66,582, out of the 68,504 total infected.

The Covid-19 bed occupancy rate in the city’s six district hospitals are at 32 percent while the Manila Covid-19 Field Hospital, which also accepts non-residents, has an occupancy rate of 65 percent.

Quarantine facilities are just 9 percent full.