Metro Manila's water, an essential in COVID-19 fight, enough throughout summer

Metro Manila will have enough water supply throughout the dry season, which is essential for hand hygiene and disinfection drives aimed at containing the coronavirus epidemic, regulators said Friday.

Angat Dam, the region's main water source, was at 197.6 meters early Friday, higher than its level around the same time last year, said National Water Resources Board Executive Director Sevillo David Jr.

"Inaasahan po natin na itong summer po ay magkakaroon tayo ng karampatang suplay bago umabot iyong mga pag-ulan," he told DZMM.

(We are expecting that we will have enough supply before the rainy season comes.)

The NWRB, he said, also recently returned the water allocation for Metro Manila to the normal 46 cubic meters per second, which it previously reduced to 42 m³/s to conserve supply.

"Partikular ngayong panahon ng COVID, kailangan po natin ng steady supply ng tubig," he added.

(Particularly in this time of COVID, we need a steady supply of water.)

The Philippines' tally of COVID-19 cases surged to 707 on Thursday, including 45 deaths and 28 patients who recovered. The count could spike due to the recent arrival of additional test kits, the health department earlier said.
 
DZMM, March 27, 2020