MANILA, Philippines — Cebu City and several other cities and municipalities in Cebu province will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) until Aug. 31, along with three provinces in Luzon that were previously under the more lenient modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
Based on recommendations from the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), President Duterte approved the GCQ status for Cebu City, Talisay City, Lapu-Lapu City and Mandaue City, and the municipalities of Minglanilla and Consolacion. Cebu province as a whole is under MGCQ. Also placed under GCQ is Iloilo City.
Luzon provinces placed under GCQ effective today until Aug. 31 are Nueva Ecija, Batangas and Quezon.
The President is set to announce tomorrow an update of the quarantine status for Metro Manila and nearby provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal, which are under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Tuesday.
Areas under relaxed quarantine status are still subject to strict granular or localized lockdowns at the barangay level, depending on the number of COVID-19 cases, according to the IATF.
“In the case of Cebu, the province shall be placed under MGCQ, except for the City of Talisay and the municipalities of Minglanilla and Consolacion, which shall remain under GCQ, with strict enforcement of indicated local actions, to be monitored by the NTF,” the IATF said in Resolution No. 63. NTF is the National Task Force Against COVID-19.
“Several other places in the Philippines will come under modified general community quarantine or MGCQ. Some provinces, highly urbanized cities and independent component cities should ensure strict enforcement of local action,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said.
Despite a less strict quarantine status for most areas in the country, Roque said there should be no room for complacency.
“So there is really no end to ECQ because ECQ now is localized or granular,” Roque said.
“For Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal or whatever CQ is there, granulized or localized lockdowns continue. The difference is, they’re stricter,” he said in his live broadcast over state-run PTV 4.
Even in areas under MGCQ, Roque stressed that local officials – upon consultation with the regional IATF – may impose localized lockdowns based on the clustering of cases.
He said there is now greater focus on cluster of cases, and that only areas with such clusters are subject to lockdown and not entire cities or provinces.
“The National Task Force (NTF) and the Department of the 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, quoting from IATF Resolution No. 63.
The IATF met on Friday to assess the pandemic situation. The meeting was called as 62,216 new COVID-19 cases in the country were reported as of Aug.14.
Quarantine classification is set based on epidemic risk level and on economic, social and security considerations. The government began enforcing quarantine restrictions, especially in Luzon, on March 17.
The task force maintained that all provinces, highly-urbanized cities and ICCs are directed to ensure the strict enforcement of minimum public health standards, especially in high-risk areas such as healthcare institutions, wet markets, supermarkets, government offices and workplaces, among others.
Under Resolution No. 63, the IATF also directed all local government units (LGUs) to implement localized community quarantine and ensure the availability of identified quarantine facilities in priority/critical areas with community transmission both in private and public establishments.
The task force also mandated the need for “immediate facility-based isolation of all returning citizens, suspect and probable cases.”
The body also reiterated the urgency of “scaling up of local health system capacity, especially for community isolation and critical care, including dedicated mechanical ventilators, ICU, isolation and ward beds for COVID-19 cases.”
It also required the submission of complete and accurate data through COVID-Kaya and DOH’s DataCollect.
Based on IATF Resolution 63, areas are under MGCQ are Abra, Apayao, Ifugao, Benguet, Kalinga, Mountain Province and Baguio City under the Cordillera Autonomous Region; Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, La Union, Pangasinan, Dagupan City in Region I; Batanes, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino and Santiago City in Region II; Aurora, Bataan, Pampanga, Tarlac, Zambales, Angeles City and Olongapo City in Region III; Marinduque, Occidental Mindoro, Oriental Mindoro, Romblon, Palawan, Puerto Princesa City in Region IV-B; Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, Catanduanes, Masbate, Sorsogon, Naga City in Region V in Luzon.
Aklan, Antique, Bacolod City, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo, Negros Occidental in Region VI; Bohol, Cebu, Negros Occidental, Siquijor in Region VII; Biliran, Leyte, Southern Leyte, Eastern Samar, Northern Samar, Western Samar, Ormoc City and Tacloban City in the Visayas.
Zamboanga del Norte, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City in Region IX; Bukidnon, Camiguin, Lanao del Norte, Iligan City, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental, Cagayan de Oro in Region X; Davao de Oro, Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao Occidental, Davao Oriental and Davao City in Region XI; North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Sarangani, Sultan Kudarat, General Santos City in Region XII; Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur, Butuan City in Region XIII (Caraga); and Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao which covers Basilan, Lanao del Sur, Maguindanao, Sulu and Tawi-Tawi in Mindanao.
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