MANILA – Iloilo City shifts today to a heightened general community quarantine (GCQ) for the entire October, while Iloilo province stays under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Oct. 15.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced this last night based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) approved by President Rodrigo Duterte.
Iloilo City was previously under ECQ in mid-August before shifting to the second strictest coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) quarantine restriction in September.
Roque said Iloilo province maintained its status based on its healthcare utilization rate and medical bed capacity. The IATF-MEID will reassess the province’s quarantine classification before Oct. 15.
Bacolod City and Capiz were also placed under heightened GCQ for the entire month.
Meanwhile, Aklan, Antique, Negros Occidental and Guimaras will be under the regular GCQ beginning today until Oct. 31.
Roque also said the IATF-MEID decided not to implement yet a policy shift in quarantine and alert level determination for Western Visayas. The pilot run of the general community quarantine with alert levels in the National Capital Region (NCR) was extended until Oct. 15.
“It is still premature to use it outside NCR,” Roque said.
Under the new policy being implemented in NCR, granular lockdowns are enforced in areas with high COVID-19 infections, as opposed to locking down entire provinces or regions.
The new alert levels were introduced in a bid to spur the economy severely dragged by pandemic-forced lockdowns./PN