Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, July 30) — Metro Manila is once again placed under enhanced community quarantine from August 1 to 15, following calls to impose the strictest quarantine measure in the capital region.
Harry Roque, spokesperson of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, made the announcement on Friday, just two days after President Rodrigo Duterte declared that the two-week general community quarantine with heightened restrictions would stay in the National Capital Region.
The metropolis and nearby provinces were last placed under ECQ on March 29 to April 11. This time, the government is grappling with the exponential rise in COVID-19 cases brought by the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Under ECQ, only take-out and food delivery services will be available. Restaurants are not allowed to hold dine-in services. Essential stores like groceries and pharmacies will be allowed to open in malls.
Healthcare facilities, emergency frontline services, manufacturers of medical supplies and equipment, and services under agriculture and delivery of essential goods, will be allowed to operate at full capacity. Media, private establishments that provide essential goods and services, and other accredited workers may operate at 50% capacity.
Public transportation will also continue to operate. Only accredited workers and individuals __ to __ years old can leave their places of residence for essential purposes.
Metro Manila mayors have pushed for a two-week ECQ for August but asked that the national government provide funds for affected households as well as four million vaccine doses so they can ramp up inoculation in the capital region.
Residents of Iloilo province, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro and Gingoog City which were placed under ECQ were promised a ₱1,000 cash aid, with a maximum of ₱4,000 per family.
READ: Residents in 4 areas under ECQ to receive cash aid https://cnnphilippines.com/news/2021/7/29/ECQ-areas-cash-aid.html
The country has recorded a total of 216 Delta cases, after detecting 97 more cases of the feared variant on Thursday.
This story is breaking and will be updated.
