Metro Manila will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until 15 September.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) decided to defer easing quarantine restrictions in the National Capital Region (NCR).
NCR was supposed to pilot the implementation of the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with Alert Levels System starting Wednesday.
âMetro Manilaâs current risk classification as Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) shall be maintained until September 15, 2021, or until the pilot GCQ with Alert Level System is implemented, whichever comes first,â Roque said in a brief statement last Tuesday.
As of press time, Roque has yet to disclose the reason for the IATFâs decision to postpone the GCQ scheme implementation in NCR.
But in an earlier briefing, he said the IATF together with concerned local government units (LGU) are still ironing out the guidelines for the new GCQ scheme.
With the extended MECQ classification of NCR, Roque said indoor and al-fresco dine-in services, and personal care services including beauty salons, beauty parlors and nail spas will remain prohibited in the region.
He also said religious services in the region can only be performed through online video recording and transmission.
âImmediate family members are allowed to attend necrological services, wakes, internment and funerals as long as the deceased died of non-COVID-19 (novel coronavirus disease) causes,â Roque said.
âHowever, they need to show satisfactory proof of their relationship with the deceased and have to comply with the minimum public health standards,â he added.