Bacolod is currently in Modified General Community Quarantine. (MGCQ) They had been under the stricter General Community Quarantine. This is why the cases have dropped. A study done in the US shows that there are 8 undiagnosed cases for every confirmed case. If we apply the same ratio here it would result in there being another 800 infected and contagious people in Dumaguete for the current 100 confirmed active cases. More testing per capita was done in the US than here so we can expect the number of undiagnosed people here to be higher. It would be a shame if the leadership waited until the contagion became worse before tasking more aggressive measures to contain it. Once it gets out of hand then you end up in a situation like Bacolod where the city has to spend a long time in the most strict GCQ.
GCQ is a lot better than the ECQ in September. Not much difference between GCQ and MGCQ. I agree they are slow here when swift action is necessary, but it's much worse elsewhere and we are fatigued at this point. Bacolod is 400,000 plus population with hotspots, Duma is 120,000. Big hotspot in Duma was gov offices. NegOr has 1.2 million people. Once it gets into the remoter locations, it may keep reappearing - not sure how those areas are handled. Thanks for the chat.
I was stopped coming down at the checkpoint this morning and asked where I was going and for my driver's license. Saying I was going to the grocery store and then the gym along with my Texas license and immigration card showing I'm a tourist was enough to get me through.
I still have to think when reading of ECQ, MGCQ, GCQ, XYZQ and the order of seriousness - places like the UK have done some very stupid things (now they have decided to exclude top businessmen, sports' people, journalists and a few others from needing quarantine when entering the country - I was not aware the virus was so selective) BUT their Tier system is very clear and easily understood by the masses. Why does the Philippines have to make everything so complicated - is there a gene for it?
They started with a simple two or three tier system and then had to add tiers. Hence the "modified". I agree, now would be a good time to switch to a numbering scheme.
It's a good idea but having watched the evolution of the quarantine categories I can forsee some problems. TOO MUCH FLEXIBILITY. A simple 1-9 sounds good in theory but..... Monday it might start at level 3. As the bugs get worked out it'll be level 3.4 by the time Friday rolls around.
Not sure where you got your population numbers but they are considerably off. For instance Bacolod, of where I used to live, is now over 600,000 in 2020. Dumaguete and Negros Oriental are also larger. Then figure in the population that commutes in for work and the population during most working hours is far larger.
Hope you are right, my estimate is that we are late to the game or maybe it still has to start. Well PH time can be usefull, onya!