Cebu City and Cebu province will be placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from August 1 to 15, Malacañang announced on Friday, July 30.

The new classification is “subject to further appeals by their local government units,” said Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque.

This is a major escalation as both are currently under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the loosest quarantine mode imposed by the government.

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They join Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City as Visayas areas to be placed under MECQ during the first weeks of August.

The escalation comes after the Department of Health reported 97 new cases of the highly transmissible Delta variant on Thursday, July 29. Of this, 32 or 33% are from Central Visayas, the region that includes Cebu.

Malacañang also announced that Metro Manila would be placed under lockdown or ECQ from August 6 to 20. The two-week period of restrictions is to prepare for a possible surge due to the Delta variant.

For the rest of the country, the previous quarantine classifications announced by the Palace were unchanged. – Rappler.com