DESPITE the rising cases of Covid-19 in some of its cities, Metro Manila will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of the month.
On Thursday, the Department of Health (DOH) confirmed seven cities in the National Capital Region (NCR) a positive two-week growth rate of new Covid-19 cases.
However, Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte opted not to impose a tighter community classification for NCR.
This, even if health officials are still trying to determine the reason for the spike in new cases in the said areas.
“Like what I said, we look at the capacity of LGUs [local government units] to isolate [infected individuals] and their contact tracing ratio and it appears these are improving so we opted to maintain GCQ in Metro Manila,” said Roque, who also serves as spokesman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
Roque ruled out the Delta variant of the Covid-causing severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2), which is being blamed for the surge in cases in several countries.
Citing the surveillance being conducted by the Philippine Genome Center, he noted there is currently still no confirmed community transmission of the Delta variant.
New list of classifications
Aside from NCR, other areas also placed under GCQ are Baguio City and Apayao in the Cordillera Administrative Region; City of Santiago, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya and Quirino in Region 2; Bulacan in Region 3; Cavite, Rizal, Quezon and Batangas in Region 4A; Puerto Princesa in Region 4B; Guimaras and Negros Occidental in Region 6; Zamboanga Sibugay, City of Zamboanga and Zamboanga del Norte in Region 9; Davao Oriental in Region 11; General Santos City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, Cotabato and South Cotabato in Region 12; Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Sur in Caraga; and Cotabato City in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM).
These areas will remain under GCQ from July 16 to 31, 2021.
Meanwhile, the following areas will be placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions from July 16, 2021 until July 31, 2021: Cagayan in Region 2; Laguna and Lucena City in Region4A; Naga City in Region 5; Negros Oriental in Region 7; Zamboanga del Sur in Region 9; and Davao City in Region 11.
Aklan, Bacolod City, Antique, and Capiz in Region 6 will also be placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions, but only until 22 July 2021.
Areas which are under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), the second strictest community quarantine classification, include Bataan in Region 3; Cagayan de Oro City in Region 10; Davao Occidental, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, and Davao del Norte in Region 11; and Butuan City in Caraga from July 16, 2021 until July 31, 2021.
Iloilo City and Iloilo in Region 6 shall also be placed under MECQ but only until 22 July 2021.
All other areas in the country, which are now included in the aforementioned lists, will be placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) from July 16, 2021 until July 31, 2021.
Image courtesy of Nonie Reyes