The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) will meet next week to discuss the fate of areas under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) upon expiration of current lockdown measures by the end of the month.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced that the IATF has a scheduled meeting on Monday and Wednesday.
Roque said the task force is now finalizing new guidelines on general community quarantine (GCQ) and modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) “kasi ang importante ngayon dapat malinaw kung ano ang GCQ at ang modified GCQ dahil doon nga papunta.”
[What’s important now is the clarity between GCQ and modified GCQ because that’s where we’re going.]
The cities of Cebu and Mandaue were placed under ECQ, while Metro Manila, Laguna, Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, and Zambales are under MECQ from May 16 to 31. Ten barangays of Navotas City are also under ECQ until the end of the month. The rest of the country are under GCQ.
While the next step for areas under MECQ is to shift to GCQ and those under GCQ will be MGCQ, Roque said the IATF still has to look into relevant data in deciding on lifting quarantine measures.
