METRO Manila and 12 other regions were placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) starting next month, according to a new resolution from the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
In an interview with PTV on Friday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced the new list of community quarantine classification starting next Monday.
“I was authorized by the President to announce the quarantine classification from Feb. 1 to Feb. 28, 2021,” Roque said.
National Capital Region (NCR) and Davao City will remain under GCQ, according to the said list.
Other areas to be placed in GCQ are Batangas and Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), which includes Abra, Apayao, Benguet, Baguio City, Ifugao, Kalinga, and Mountain Province for Luzon; Tacloban City for the Visayas; Davao del Norte, Lanao del Sur and Iligan City for Mindanao.
Meanwhile, the rest of the country, including Santiago City, Ormoc City, will be placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).
Not conclusive
Despite the earlier reported significant spike of infections in the country as well as the local presence of the Covid-19 variant from the United Kingdom, B117, the new list did not include any areas, which were placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or modified ECQ (MECQ).
Last Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) reported Davao de Oro and Baguio City had reached critical levels in terms of health care utilization, while Agusan del Norte and Nueva Vizcaya have “high” level of healthcare utilization.
This after Roque said the IATF has yet to establish if the more infectious Covid-19 variant, B117, has already gained a foothold in the country.
“We still have no conclusive data stating the UK variant has become prevalent in the Philippines,” Roque said.
DOH has said it still waiting for the results of the genome sequencing results of more Covid-19 samples to determine if B117 has already become widespread in some local communities.
Roque said the said extent of the spread of B117 in the country may determine if the country will intensify or relax community quarantine classifications in the country.
