Most of Philippines will be under MGCQ – Roque

MANILA, Philippines — Four months into the lockdowns due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, most of the country will be under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) in the next two weeks, except for some areas that will be placed under stricter quarantine measures.

“There are areas that will go back to stricter quarantine measures. But by and large, the Philippines will be under MGCQ, overwhelming,” presidential spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said yesterday.

President Duterte was set to meet with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to determine the fate of Metro Manila and the rest of the country in the next weeks.

Duterte had extended the general community quarantine (GCQ) in Metro Manila from July 1 to 15 while the rest of the country was placed on a less strict quarantine status. Cebu City has been under the highest enhanced community quarantine due to the high number of COVID-19 cases.

The country has shifted to opening the economy by balancing the health and work situations, according to Roque.

“So I guess you can say that we have reined in the COVID-19 threat to the extent that we can open up to 75 percent of the economy. And I think, in the coming few days, we might even consider declaring some areas under the new normal,” he said.

“Although we hesitate to do so because we continue – we want to, the whole country – to still be (under) some form of quarantine just in case there are local outbreaks,” he added.

Without going into details, Roque said there are areas under GCQ that will be placed under MGCQ.

“I can confirm that four cities and one province actually appealed their classification. So it was acted upon by the IATF and the recommendation has been given to the President,” he said.

“I can confirm that some areas… will go back to GCQ from MGCQ,” he added.

Although there are restrictions of movement in the country, Roque noted that the government has allowed the operations of businesses to resume, albeit gradually.

“We’ve actually opened the economy to the full extent that we can. Of course, it’s not fully opened up because we’ve not allowed public gatherings. But all industries are open, even restaurants will soon be allowed to have 50-percent capacity,” he said.

“Transportation is almost back to normal, and the only thing that we’ve not eased up is the restriction on unnecessary movement of people and public gatherings,” he added.

The National Task Force against COVID-19 has been implementing the second phase of the treatment and recovery plan under the present situation.

“So I think the concern of the public sector is very well taken. If you look at the second national action plan of the National Task Force, we have recognized that although we have succeeded in protecting lives, instead of 3.6 million people being afflicted with the disease, we have the current numbers, we still have to open up the economy,” he said.

To ensure safety of the majority, the government will still strictly enforce gradual and localized lockdowns, particularly in areas with high number of COVID-19 cases.

“We resort to granular, localized lockdowns; we intensify our T3 (Test, Trace and Treat) as well as, this is very important, protecting the vulnerables,” he said.

Under the present situation, the government bans individuals below 18 years old and senior citizens from leaving their homes unless they have to do essential things. Minimum health standards – wearing face masks, social distancing and frequent handwashing, among others – must be also observed at all times.