Cebu stays under ECQ; Metro Manila under GCQ – Duterte

July 1, 2020

President Rodrigo Duterte said on Tuesday night that Cebu City will continue under the enhanced community quarantine while Metro Manila will also remain under the general community quarantine beginning July 1.

In a taped televised message during his meeting with some members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, Duterte said the highest quarantine classification has to be imposed again on Cebu City because of the high number of coronavirus infection.

"Why do you have many (cases of COVID-19)? Well, one of the reasons really, I would say even without consulting the body, because you did not follow rules...you have the highest (number of cases). Cebu is now the hotspot for COVID," he said.

He said the hospitals in Cebu City are also finding a hard time to cope up with the increasing number of COVID-19 patients.

The President also hit the residents of Talisay City, a nearby area of Cebu City, saying, "Talisay was like a marketplace everyday. You are drinking (liquor) there, gambling, almost nonchalant of the dangers that were lurking around."

Talisay City, however, along with the National Capital Region, Benguet, Cavite, Rizal, Leyte, Ormoc City, Southern Leyte, and Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Minglanilla and Consolacion, all in Cebu province, will be under the GCQ, a less restrictive classification than the ECQ.

The areas under modified GCQ are Abra, Baguio City, Ifugao and Kalinga in Cordillera Administrative Region; Ilocos Norte, La Union and Pangasinan in Region 1; Cagayan and Isabela in Region 2; Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga and Angeles City in Region 3; Batangas, Laguna, Quezon, and Lucena City in Region 4-A; Palawan and Puerto Princesa City in Region 4-B; Albay, Camarines Norte, Camarines Sur, and Naga City in Region 5; Capiz, Iloilo, Iloilo City, Negros Occidental, and Bacolod City in Region 6;

Cebu province, Bohol, and Negros Oriental in Region 7; Tacloban City and Western Samar in Region 8; Zamboanga City and Zamboanga del Sur in Region 9; Bukidnon, Misamis Occidental, Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de oro in Region 10; Davao del Norte, Davao del Sur, Davao City, and Davao de Oro in Region 11; Cotabato and South Cotabato in Region 12; Agusan del Norte, Agusan del Sur and Butuan City in Region 13; and Lanao del Sur and Maguindanao in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao.

The rest of the country are under "low risk" MGCQ qualification, said Health Secretary Francisco Duque.

As of June 30, there were 37,514 confirmed cases of coronavirus nationwide, including 10,233 recoveries and 1,266 deaths. Celerina Monte/DMS