Quirino province, Santiago City placed under MECQ starting April 1
Quirino
province and Santiago City in Isabela will be under modified enhanced community
quarantine (MECQ) to contain the spread on COVID-19, President Rodrigo Roa
Duterte announced Monday.
President Rodrigo
Roa Duterte presides over a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the
Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members prior to his talk to the
people at the Malacañang Golf (Malago) Clubhouse in Malacañang Park, Manila on
March 29, 2021. KING RODRIGUEZ/ PRESIDENTIAL PHOTO
In a televised public address, President Duterte said the MECQ in Quirino province would last from April 1 to 15 while the restriction in Santiago City will be from April 1 to 30.
Meanwhile,
areas that will be under general community quarantine (GCQ) beginning April 1
until April 30 include the Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan, Isabela,
Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Davao City, and Lanao del
Sur.
“Aside
from those places that I have mentioned, iyon ‘yong mga strikto, itong the rest
of the Philippines modified general community quarantine lang,” President
Duterte said.
The
President has previously approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task
Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to place
National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal under enhanced
community quarantine (ECQ) from March 29 until April 4.
“For
de-escalation of the quarantine the --- it will be loosened or stricter
depending on the result of the surveys,” the President said of the lockdowns.
The
IATF-EID has recommended a stricter quarantine measure anew following the spike
in the number of coronavirus cases in Metro Manila and its adjacent provinces.
As of Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) put the total number of COVID-19 cases in the Philippines at 731,894 after reaching a record-high of 10,016 new cases in one day. Active cases are now at 115,495, while there are 603,213 recoveries and 13,186 deaths. PND
