Metro Manila, Laguna, Bataan will be under MECQ until end of month–Palace

PRECAUTION Barriers have been set up in several villages in Pasay City to prohibit nonresidents from going in and out of these communities as Metro Manila undergoes another round of lockdown to contain the spread of COVID-19. INQUIRER file photo / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila and the provinces of Laguna and Bataan will be placed under a less restrictive modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for the rest of August, Malacañang said Thursday night.

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the government’s leading task force against the COVID-19 pandemic, has just approved the move to place Metro Manila and Laguna under MECQ starting August 21 until August 31.

Meanwhile, Bataan will be placed under MECQ starting August 23 until August 31.

The IATF decision has been approved already by President Rodrigo Duterte, Roque said.

“These latest classifications are without prejudice to the strict implementation of granular lockdowns,” Roque said in a statement.

Metro Manila was placed under ECQ until Friday, August 20, while Bataan will be under the strictest quarantine classification until August 22 in a bid to curb rising COVID-19 cases amid the spread of the highly contagious Delta variant.

Under MECQ, indoor and al-fresco dine-in services and personal care services including beauty salons, beauty parlors; barbershops, and nail spas will still be prohibited.

Religious gatherings will likewise remain virtual in Metro Manila, Laguna and Bataan, Roque said.

JPV