Ifugao, Puerto Princesa placed on quarantine list
Ifugao province has been added to the list of areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until May 14, while Puerto Princesa City will be under general community quarantine (GCQ) for the month of May.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr. said on Friday that the two reclassifications were done at the request of their local governments, which wanted tighter restrictions.
Thus far, 24 areas were on the quarantine list with nine under MECQ and 15 under GCQ.
Remaining under MECQ until May 14 are Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal; Abra and Ifugao in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR); and Santiago City and Quirino in the Cagayan Valley Region.
Areas under GCQ until May 31 are Apayao, Baguio City, Benguet, Kalinga, Mountain Province in CAR; Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya in Cagayan Valley Region; Batangas and Quezon in Calabarzon; Puerto Princesa City in Mimaropa; Tacloban City; Iligan City; Davao City; and Lanao del Sur.
Roque said all other areas in the country will be under modified general community quarantine for the month of May.
Metro Manila and its four surrounding provinces were first placed under the strict enhanced community quarantine in late March as COVID-19 infections surged.
After two weeks, the National Capital Region Plus bubble eased into MECQ for the month of April.
The stricter quarantine classifications meant lower operating capacities for many establishments, the imposition of curfew hours and liquor bans in many cities in Metro Manila.
On Thursday night, Roque announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) allowed the resumption of indoor dine-in services in MECQ areas, but only up to 10 percent of the venue or seating capacity.
Beauty salons, barbershops and nail spas in MECQ areas were also allowed to operate but up to 30 percent of venue or seating capacity.
But establishments that serve liquor are not yet allowed to resume dine-in operations.
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