President Rodrigo Duterte has agreed to put the province of Iloilo and its capital Iloilo City, as well as Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog City in Misamis Oriental under the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until July 31.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said on Friday, July 16, that Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to escalate the quarantine status in these four areas as the coronavirus pandemic rages in the country. 

In June, experts from the Octa Research Group noted that intensive care units in Iloilo City and two other local government units were already full. Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas had appealed to the national government to give them more COVID-19 vaccines doses as cases continue to surge.

Meanwhile, the general community quarantine (GCQ) “with heightened restrictions” classification in Antique has been extended from July 22 to July 31. 

Misamis Oriental has been reverted to GCQ “with heightened restrictions” – from modified GCQ (MGCQ) – until the end of July.

Duterte earlier approved quarantine classifications for various parts of the country for the rest of July. Find the full list here.

COVID-19 infections in the country reached over 1.49 million as of Thursday, July 15. A total of 26,314 people have died of COVID-19, but 1.42 million have recovered from the virus. – Rappler.com