THE Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has approved minor changes in the list of areas that will remain under extended enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from May 1 to May 15 as it reclassified several provinces and placed them under general community quarantine (GCQ).
Members of the IATF agreed that the 16 cities and one municipality in the National Capital Region will still be under ECQ, along with the five provinces of the Southern Tagalog Region (Calabarzon).
Except for the province of Aurora, the six other provinces in Central Luzon, namely Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales and Tarlac, will still be on lockdown. On Friday, Malacañang said the inclusion of Tarlac in the ECQ is subject to further review until April 30.
The provinces of Pangasinan, Benguet, Iloilo and Cebu, as well as the cities of Baguio, Cebu and Davao will also be included in the ECQ.
No longer under ECQ are the provinces of Oriental Mindoro, Occidental Mindoro, Albay, and Catanduanes in Luzon; Antique, Aklan, and Capiz in the Visayas; and Davao del Norte and Davao de Oro in Mindanao. These provinces were previously included in the list of provinces identified as “high risk” areas and included in the ECQ.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Tuesday said provinces not mentioned above, along with others in Luzon that are under the ECQ until April 30, will be under GCQ starting May 1. These areas are classified as “moderate risk” or “low risk.”
Roque said that under the GCQ, residents are required to strictly observe minimum health standards starting May 1.
Roque said the GCQ is the same as the “modified” quarantine that President Duterte referred to when he addressed the nation on Monday night.
The President, in his speech, highlighted that some areas in the country will already start shifting to “modified quarantine” after April 30.
POST-ECQ
Roque said the IATF-EID will continue to reassess the health situation all over the country, which will be the basis for its decision on whether or not to sustain, lift or extend community quarantines in provinces, cities, and other areas before May 15.
He said areas classified under “moderate risk” may remain in the GCQ but be downgraded to “low risk” areas, while those in the “low risk” category may be removed from the quarantine zone.
He said areas under the ECQ would also be assessed and may eventually be downgraded to the GCQ category.
Roque reminded local government units they cannot, on their own, impose quarantines. They are required to comply with existing procedures and resolutions and get the concurrence of their regional inter-agency task groups before locking down their areas.
Provincial governors and mayors of highly urbanized cities and independent component cities are only allowed to impose ECQs in their jurisdictions upon the concurrence of their respective regional inter-agency task groups.
OTHER IATF MATTERS
The IATF has also decided on the following:
- Travel ban stays.
- Department of Tourism has been directed to charter and shoulder the cost of hiring sweeper flights to help local tourists stranded in the provinces due to the lockdown and fly them back to Metro Manila.
- Universities and colleges can resume operations by May 4 but only under skeletal workforce to formally conclude Academic Year 2019-2020, issue credentials to students, and prepare for “flexible learning arrangements” for the next school year.
- Department of Education has yet to decide on the proposed resumption of classes in the basic level in September.
- Resolution 29 issued approving the use of the reversed transcription polymerase chain reaction test (PCR) test for overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) returning from countries with high COVID-19 cases.
- All returning OFWs will be subjected to rapid antibody mass testing.
MORE COPS
The National Capital Region Police Office (NCRPO) has requested from Camp Crame an addition 10,000 policemen to augment their forces deployed all over the NCR.
NCRPO chief Maj. Gen. Debold Sinas said officers who have been on duty since the ECQ started on March 17 need to be given a break, pointing out that they are now exhausted.
“They don’t have enough rest because of the ECQ. If we will have an additional help from Camp Crame, maybe we can give our men time to rest,” Sinas said.
Also, Sinas said they need to augment forces to ensure that quarantine protocols remain strictly enforced, pointing out that people are likely agitated now because of prolonged home stay and might attempt or insist on going out even for non-essential missions. — With Noel Talacay
