Rody to announce Metro Manila’s fate tomorrow
President Duterte is expected to announce on Tuesday his decision on the quarantine restrictions in Metro Manila and other areas affected by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, officials said yesterday.
The government’s pandemic task force did not tighten lockdown measures in Metro Manila this month as the capital region’s health facilities were deemed sufficient to handle future infections.
Cebu City, however, was reverted to the strictest quarantine scenario because of rising cases of COVID-19 and the high utilization rate of its critical care capacity.
The number of persons in the Philippines who caught the virus continues to rise, with more than 700 cases recorded last Saturday, bringing total COVID-19 infections to more than 34,000. The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has reviewed the data and has submitted to Duterte its recommendation on the classification of areas under community quarantine, Malacañang said over the weekend.
“The President will meet the IATF on Tuesday afternoon. That will be the time he makes the announcement,” Defense Secretary Delfin Lorenzana said in a text message to The
STAR yesterday. In a separate text message, presidential spokesman Harry Roque confirmed that the President would make his announcement on Tuesday.
Only Cebu City is under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), wherein only essential services like health care, agriculture, food distribution, export-oriented business and business process outsourcing may operate.
Metro Manila, which contributes about a third of the country’s gross domestic product, has been under the more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ) since June 1.
Under GCQ, some nonessential industries and modes of public transportation may operate but public gatherings remain restricted. Aside from Metro Manila, other areas under GCQ are Isabela,
Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Santiago City in Cagayan Valley; Aurora, Bataan, Bulacan, Olongapo, Tarlac in Central Luzon; Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon in Calabarzon; Occidental Mindoro in Mimaropa, all in Luzon; Bohol, Cebu province, Talisay City, Negros Oriental, Siquijor, Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City in Visayas, and Davao City and Zamboanga City in Mindanao.
The rest of the country are placed under the most lenient modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), where virtually all sectors are allowed and modes of public transport can partially operate. Public gatherings are also permitted but only up to half of the venue may be filled.
Earlier this week, Roque claimed that the Philippines is “improving” in its fight against COVID-19 despite the rising infections. Critics, however, continue to score the Duterte administration’s handling of the pandemic, including Vice President Leni Robredo, who said the government was initially “complacent” about the virus.