Quarantine managers add color to ‘CQ’ alphabet soup

MANILA, Philippines — More than 15 months after Metro Manila was placed on lockdown on March 12 last year, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has decided to add some color to the burgeoning quarantine alphabet soup.

Since the start of the Philippine lockdown, the authorities have developed sometimes confusing acronyms—GCQ, MGCQ, ECQ and MECQ—for different levels of community quarantines to which Filipinos have grown accustomed despite the bewilderment of foreigners.

On Wednesday, the IATF issued a list of 57 “green” countries, territories and jurisdictions from where fully vaccinated travelers may be allowed to enter the Philippines with a facility-based quarantine reduced from 10 to seven days.

According to presidential spokesperson Harry Roque Jr., the concurrent IATF spokesperson, these travelers should have stayed exclusively in the green countries for 14 days prior to arrival in the Philippines.

The list includes Albania, American Samoa, Anguilla, Antigua and Barbuda, Australia, Benin, Belize, British Virgin Islands, Brunei, Burkina Faso, Burundi, Cayman Islands, Chad, China, Cote d’ Ivoire (Ivory Coast), Eswatini (Swaziland), Falkland Islands, French Polynesia, Gambia, Ghana, Greenland, Grenada, Hong Kong, Iceland, Isle of Man, Israel, Laos, Liberia, Malawi, Malta, Marshall Islands, Mauritius, Micronesia, Montserrat, Morocco, Mozambique, New Caledonia, New Zealand, Niger, Nigeria, Northern Mariana Islands, Palau, Rwanda, Saba, Saint Barthelemy, Saint Kitts and Nevis, Saint Pierre and Miquelon, Sierra Leone, Senegal, Singapore, Sint Eustatius, South Korea, Taiwan, Togo, Turks and Caicos Islands, Vietnam, and Zimbabwe.

According to IATF Resolution No. 123-C, green countries or jurisdictions are those classified by the Department of Health as “low-risk” based on several considerations.

July classifications

At the same time, Roque announced the quarantine classifications for July and said the National Capital Region, Rizal and Bulacan will be under the general community quarantine (GCQ) with some restrictions until July 15.

Laguna and Cavite will be under GCQ with heightened restrictions until July 15.

The province of Apayao in the Cordillera Administrative Region will be under GCQ up to July 15, after the IATF approved its appeal to be deescalated from the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) classification.

The province of Ifugao’s appeal to be deescalated from GCQ to modified GCQ (MGCQ) was also approved by the IATF.

Also under GCQ for July are Baguio City, Santiago City, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Batangas, Quezon, Guimaras, Aklan, Bacolod City, Negros Occidental, Antique, Capiz, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga City, Iligan City, General Santos City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, and Cotabato City.

Meanwhile, Cagayan, Bataan, Lucena City, Puerto Princesa City, Naga City, Iloilo City, Iloilo province, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Cagayan de Oro City, Davao City, Davao Oriental, Davao Occidental, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Butuan City, Dinagat Islands, and Surigao del Sur will be under MECQ up to July 15.

All other areas in the country will be placed under MGCQ from July 1 until July 31. INQ