Metro Manila will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Sept. 15 or until the government finalizes guidelines for the implementation of granular lockdowns.
Metro Manila was supposed to shift to general community quarantine (GCQ) on Sept. 8.
In a statement on Tuesday, Palace spokesman Harry Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases had decided to defer the implementation of GCQ with alert levels system in Metro Manila.
“Metro Manila’s current risk classification as [MECQ] shall be maintained until Sept. 15, 2021, or until the pilot GCQ with alert level system is implemented, whichever comes first,” he said.
In a virtual presser earlier on Tuesday, Roque said guidelines for granular lockdowns had yet to be implemented.
“Tungkol sa pilot implementation guidelines sa NCR, ito ay kasalukuyang pinag-uusapan pa,” he said.
The government has been floating the idea of enforcing granular lockdowns since last year, saying they would be more effective and would preserve jobs and help revive the economy.
The Philippines has recorded 2,121,308 Covid-19 cases as of Sept. 7. John Ezekiel J. Hirro