MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to announce Monday his decision on whether to extend or relax the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) enforced in areas where there is a large number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, ahead of the May 15 deadline.
“Antay na lang po tayo, isang tulog na lang po iyan. Sa Lunes po inaasahan natin na magkakaroon po ng approval ang ating Presidente kung ano ang mangyayari sa atin ng May 16,” Duterte’s spokesman Harry Roque said in a televised press briefing Saturday.
(Let’s just wait, it’s just a sleep away. On Monday we are expecting our President to give his approval on what will happen to us on May 16.)
The announcement will be made after a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), Roque said.
But the Palace official bared that only certain parts of the National Capital Region (NCR), which accounts for the vast majority of the COVID-19 cases in the country, maybe placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) where some restrictions in movement will be eased.
This would depend on the severity of the infection in specific localities, Roque explained.
Nationwide, there are 10,610 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including 704 deaths and 1,842 recoveries. Of this, 6,916 were recorded in Metro Manila, according to the Department of Health’s COVID-19 tracker.
The President extended the monthlong ECQ in Metro Manila, Central Luzon (except Aurora), Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, and Quezon) and other provinces or areas deemed as high risk to coronavirus infection from May 1 to May 15. Meanwhile, areas with low risk to COVID-19 infection have been placed under GCQ.
The 17 NCR mayors comprising the Metro Manila Council met on Saturday and submitted three proposals to the IATF:
-Extension of the ECQ for two more weeks, from May 16-30.
-ECQ will be lifted, and general community quarantine (GCQ) will be imposed in the entire Metro Manila
-Modified GCQ, where LGUs are allowed to impose a lockdown on a specific barangay or zone if needed.