MANILA, Philippines — Only Zamboanga del Sur appealed for a stricter quarantine measure for the month of November but was denied by the government’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) task force, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Friday.
“Ang Zamboanga [del] Sur lang nag appeal from MGCQ [modified general community quarantine], they want to be GCQ [general community quarantine],” Año told INQUIRER.net in a Viber message.
Local government units were earlier allowed to appeal to their quarantine classification announced by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Only Metro Manila, Batangas, Iloilo City, Bacolod City, Tacloban City, Iligan City, and Lanao del Sur will be under GCQ for the entire month of November while the rest of the country will be under the most lenient quarantine measure or MGCQ.
“It was denied but the governor may place Pagadian under GCQ because of the sudden rise on COVID cases,” Año said.
According to the Department of Health – Zamboanga Peninsula’s COVID-19 bulletin, there are so far 281 cases in Zamboanga del Sur with seven deaths and 71 recoveries.
Recently, 10 barangays in Pagadian City were placed on lockdown from October 15 to October 27 after it recorded a spike in new cases.
The provincial government also tightened quarantine measures by reinstating the liquor ban, suspending church services, among others to curb the coronavirus spread.