‘Enforce MECQ protocols strictly’

MALACAÑANG has directed all government agencies and local government units ( LGUs) to implement the modified enhanced community quarantine ( MECQ) guidelines in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces as part of government efforts to curb the spread of the coronavirus disease ( Covid- 19) in the country.

Sen. Christopher Lawrence “Bong” Go, in a separate statement, appealed to Filipinos to remain vigilant, religiously follow quarantine measures and to always observe health protocols, such as properly wearing face masks, practicing distancing, avoiding nonessential travels and observing proper hygiene by frequent washing of hands.

Executive Secretary Salvador Medialdea issued a memorandum addressed to all heads of government departments and offices, as well as LGUs about the new quarantine status of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

The memorandum also covers heads of the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard, governmentowned or -controlled corporations (GOCCs), government financial institutions (GFIs), and state universities and colleges (SUCs).

Under the memorandum, government agencies are ordered to continue implementing the community quarantine guidelines drafted by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).

The MECQ status started at 12:01 a.m. of August 4 and will end at 11:59 p.m. of August 18, according to the memorandum.

The MECQ lockdown includes home quarantine except for essential work and other activities, limited business operations, suspension of public transportation, ban on domestic travel, and restriction on certain mass gatherings.

The move to put key areas under MECQ came after medical frontliners’ distress call to implement stricter quarantine measures to arrest the rapid spread of the coronavirus and unburden the overwhelmed hospitals.

Go, chairman of the Senate Committee on Health and Demography, said Filipinos should follow the health protocols while there is no vaccine or medicine available against Covid-19.

Go said neither the government nor the medical frontliners could continue fighting the pandemic if more people would get infected.

“Preventing the spread of Covid-19 starts with us in our own homes by being responsible citizens,” he said.