COVID-19

Cebu City, Iloilo City, Nueva Ecija, Quezon under GCQ from August 16 to 31

Pia Ranada

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Iloilo City, Quezon, and Nueva Ecija will be reverted to GCQ while the entire Mindanao will be under the least restrictive MGCQ

President Rodrigo Duterte has extended the general community quarantine (GCQ) classification of Cebu City until the end of August.

He also reverted the quarantine classifications of Nueva Ecija and Quezon in Luzon and Iloilo City in Visayas to GCQ. These 3 areas are currently under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the least restrictive classification in the country.

Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque announced this on Saturday, August 15. They are contained in Resolution No. 63 of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Below are all the areas under GCQ from August 16 to 31:

  • Nueva Ecija
  • Quezon
  • Batangas
  • Cebu City
  • Mandaue City
  • Lapu-Lapu City
  • Talisay City
  • Minglanilla
  • Consolacion
  • Iloilo City
MGCQ for entire Mindanao, rest of country

Meanwhile, the rest of the country will be under MGCQ from August 16 to 31. The entire region of Mindanao is under MGCQ during this time period.

Zamboanga City, which had been under GCQ until August 15, has been downgraded to MGCQ.

There are no changes yet in the quarantine classification of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, which are under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Tuesday, August 18.

Duterte is set to announce new quarantine classifications for these Luzon hubs on Monday, August 17.

‘Localized’ ECQ

Amid the easing of restrictions in many parts of the country, Roque said Filipinos cannot be complacent because local governments will still be implementing “localized, granular” ECQ in barangays or areas within provinces or cities, regardless of the province-wide or city-wide quarantine classification.

“I would like to make clear that even in areas under GCQ and even under MGCQ, there will still be localized ECQ, so ECQ will really have no end because our ECQ now is localized or granular,” said Roque.

In areas under localized lockdown, the Department of the Interior and Local Government and the National Task Force have been ordered to ensure that local executives strictly enforce health protocols like mask-wearing and social distancing.

There will also be “intensified tracing and quarantine” of close contacs of confirmed COVID-19 cases, said Roque.

As for Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna, Roque said that regardless of what quarantine classification Duterte will announce on Monday, the localized lockdowns will be “stricter.”

“We are running after clusters of disease, the areas with clusters of [COVID-19] are what will be placed under lockdown,” said Roque.

The day before his announcement, the Philippines’ coronavirus case count breached 150,000. As of writing, the country now has over 153,000 cases and more than 2,400 deaths. – Rappler.com

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Pia Ranada

Pia Ranada is Rappler’s Community Lead, in charge of linking our journalism with communities for impact.