METRO Manila, Laguna, and Bataan will remain under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) until next month.
In a statement on Saturday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said President Duterte approved the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) recommendation to extend the MECQ in these areas until Sept. 7, 2021.
Prior to the extension, the MECQ in NCR, Laguna and Bataan was supposed to end on Aug. 31, 2021.
“NCR, Bataan and Laguna shall have added restrictions on dining, personal care services and religious activities,” Roque said.
Aside from NCR, other MECQ areas are Apayao, Ilocos Norte, Bulacan and in Region 3, Cavite, Lucena City, Rizal in Region 4-A for Luzon; Aklan, Iloilo Province and Iloilo City in Region 6, Lapu-Lapu City, Cebu City and Mandaue City in Region 7 for the Visayas; and Cagayan de Oro City for Mindanao.
Roque said Duterte decided to place the following areas under general community quarantine (GCQ): Baguio City in the Cordillera Administrative Region, Santiago City, Quirino, Isabela and Nueva Vizcaya in Region 2, Tarlac in Region 3, and Puerto Princesa in Region 4-B for Luzon; Guimaras and Negros Occidental in Region 6 for the Visayas; Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City and Zamboanga del Norte in Region 9.
Other areas to be placed under GCQ are Davao Oriental and Davao del Sur in Region 11, General Santos City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato and South Cotabato in Region 12, Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Surigao del Norte, Surigao del Sur and Dinagat Islands in CARAGA, and Cotabato City in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao (BARMM) for Mindanao.
“All other areas shall be placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ),” Roque said.
Roque noted that the community quarantine classifications will be in effect from Sept. 1 to Sept. 7, 2021, “pending a change in community quarantine guidelines.”
Members of the IATF earlier said they are now considering phasing out the region or province-wide community quarantine classifications and replacing it with granular lockdowns instead.
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