Quirino province and Santiago City in Isabela, both in Cagayan Valley, will be under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting April 1, President Rodrigo Duterte announced on Monday, March 29.

Quirino’s MECQ will last until April 15, with the task of determining a possible de-escalation of quarantine classification given to the Cagayan Valley regional pandemic task force. Santiago City’s MECQ, meanwhile, will last until April 30.

Duterte was announcing the quarantine classifications for the country, excluding the area called “NCR Plus,” for the month of April.

Meanwhile, areas that will be under general community quarantine or GCQ from April 1 to 30 are the following:

• Cordillera Administrative Region
• Cagayan
• Isabela
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Batangas
• Tacloban City
• Iligan City
• Davao City
• Lanao del Sur

The rest of the country will be under the most relaxed quarantine restriction, modified general community quarantine or MGCQ.

The government earlier announced Metro Manila and four adjacent provinces, Bulacan, Rizal, Laguna, and Cavite, would be under the strictest classification, enhanced community quarantine or ECQ, from March 29 to April 4, in a bid to stem a surge in COVID-19 cases. – Rappler.com