Malacañang announced Saturday Cebu City, and eight other areas in the country would be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) beginning August 16.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases’ (IATF-EID) decision in a virtual briefing.
The following areas would be under GCQ from August 16 until August 31:
- Nueva Ecija
- Batangas
- Iloilo City
- Cebu City
- Lapu Lapu City
- Mandaue City
- Talisay City
- Municipality of Minglanilla in Cebu
- Municipality of Consolacion in Cebu
“The rest of the country are placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), with some provinces, highly urbanized cities and independent component cities with strict enforcement of local action,” Roque said.
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Meanwhile, President Rodrigo Duterte will announce the quarantine classification for the National Capital Region (NCR), Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal on Monday, a day before the areas’ modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) expire on August 18.
“Ang quarantine classification ng National Capital Region, probinsiya ng Bulacan, probinsiya ng Cavite, Laguna, at Rizal ay iaanunsiyo ng ating Presidente galing sa Davao sa darating na Lunes,” presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said in a virtual briefing on Saturday.
“The National Task Force (NTF) and the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) are directed to ensure that areas flagged for local action shall implement strict lockdown of areas in line with the Zoning Containment Strategy, strict enforcement of minimum public health standards, and intensified tracing and quarantine of close contacts and isolation of confirmed cases,” Roque said.
Under the Omnibus Guidelines of the Community Quarantine in the Philippines, ECQ refers to the “implementation of temporary measures imposing stringent limitations on movement and transportation of people, strict regulation of operating industries, provision of food and essential services, and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community.”
GCQ is the implementation of temporary measures limiting movement and transportation, regulation of operating industries, and the presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols.
MGCQ, meanwhile, is “the transition phase between GCQ and the New Normal, when temporary measures are relaxed: limiting movement and transportation regulation of operating industries, and presence of uniformed personnel to enforce community quarantine protocols become less necessary.”