Palace spokesman Harry Roque said that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases was to meet Tuesday, July 28, regarding updated community quarantine classifications in the country to take effect from Aug. 1 to 15.
The country’s capital region, Metro Manila, may revert to a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), Roque said.
Covid-19 cases in Metro Manila double every 8.9 days. The rate, Roque said, was “longer compared to the rest of the world.”
Roque said that was enough to recommend an extension of general community quarantine (GCQ) in the region under IATF guidelines.
However, intensive care unit bed capacity was at 70 percent, falling under the “dangerous level,” while beds in treatment centers were more than 50 percent occupied.
“Tingnan po natin kung ano ang magiging desisyon, pero hindi po foregone conclusion na babalik tayo sa MECQ, dahil ang case doubling rate naman po ay hindi lumala, bumuti lang ng bahagya,” he said during a Palace briefing.
Metro Manila has been under GCQ since June 1, allowing more businesses and establishments to reopen as part of phase two of the national action plan amid the Covid-19 pandemic. John Ezekiel J. Hirro