Metro Manila extending curfew hours to 10 p.m. – 4 a.m.

(INQUIRER file photo / MARIANNE BERMUDEZ)

MANILA, Philippines — Metro Manila will reimpose longer curfew hours from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. after it was placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) “with heightened restrictions,” the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) said Saturday.

In a statement, the MMDA said the new curfew hours will be in effect starting Sunday, July 25.

MMDA Chairman Benhur Abalos said the Metro Manila mayors agreed to extend the curfew hours from the previous 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. to restrict mobility amid the threat of the more infectious COVID-19 Delta variant.

“Yung curfew, meron na kaming resolusyon, pinapaprima ko lang ang mga mayors. Ilalabas po namin ito. From 12 [midnight], gagawin nang 10 o’clock to 4 [a.m.],” Abalos said in an interview over ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

(We already have a resolution on the curfew. The mayors will sign it and we will release it. From 12 midnight, the curfew hours will now be be from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.)

“We must also restrict mobility, yung galawan ng tao, in the sense na wag tayong dikit dikit, hangga’t maaari, yung mga taong lumalabas ng kalye, tumatambay, etc. Maiwasan po natin yan,” he added.

(We must also restrict mobility, the movement of the people, in the sense that we will not crowd, we will prevent people from going out of the streets and loiter.)

Metro Manila and the provinces of Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur, Davao de Oro, and Davao del Norte were placed under general community quarantine “with heightened restrictions” until July 31.

The development came after the Department of Health confirmed there is local transmission of the COVID-19 Delta variant after clusters of cases were seen linked to other local cases.

The Philippines has so far detected 47 Delta variant cases, 23 of which are local cases and 24 are returning overseas Filipinos.

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