Lockdown slowed Covid-19 spread significantly

THE lockdown imposed by the government since March 12 has been successful in combating the coronavirus pandemic in the country, according to a May 20 report by a team of eight University of the Philippines professors.* The group has been monitoring the pandemic since April and has produced seven reports so far — the projections of which have been largely accurate.

“The past enhanced community quarantine has been critical in reducing transmission and deaths due to Covid-19 in the Philippines,” the report said. “We know this because the reproduction number ‘R,’ which measures the rate of spread of the pandemic, has been decreasing since the beginning of ECQ.”