Duterte puts Metro Manila, nearby areas under MECQ starting August 4

MANILA, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte on Sunday, August 2, approved the recommendation of the Department of Health (DOH) to revert Metro Manila and nearby provinces on stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) for two weeks.

President Rodrigo Roa Duterte talks to the people after holding a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) core members at the Malago Clubhouse in Malacañang. Photo Credit: PCOO

Aside from the national capital region (NCR), Bulacan and Region 4A (Laguna, Cavite and Rizal) will be placed under MECQ starting Tuesday, August 4 until August 18.

READ: Latest IATF resolution provides MECQ implementation details

This was recommended by DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III in coordination with the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) after the medical workers voiced out on Saturday their concern to place Mega Manila to ECQ until August 15, citing an overwhelmed healthcare system and “burned out” frontliners.

Duque cited 7-point recommendation to address the healthcare issues. This includes hiring additional healthcare workers and giving more benefits to healthcare workers - P10,000 risk allowance for private sector healthcare workers and free life insurance.

Kumusta Po Mahal Kong Kababayan? | Talk to the People on COVID-19
President Rodrigo Roa Duterte addresses the call of the medical workers for a ‘time-out’ and stricter community quarantine as he talks to the people following his meeting on the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation in the country where the main agenda centered on the healthcare workers’ concerns.

The President cites government efforts in alleviating the health crisis, additional measures that would provide assistance to the medical community and actions to enhance the country’s healthcare system.

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Posted by Presidential Communications (Government of the Philippines) on Sunday, August 2, 2020

In a statement on Sunday, DOH said they are one with the medical societies and the government in its solidarity call for a united, strategic stand on the enormous battle against the COVID-19 pandemic.

President Duterte in a taped address on Friday, placed Metro Manila, Cebu and other areas under general community quarantine (GCQ) until August 15, even as the country’s COVID-19 cases continue to rise.

As of August 2, the nationwide COVID-19 total reached 103,185 after a record-breaking 5,032 new confirmed cases. Most of the cases were logged in NCR and Cavite province, 2,737 and 463, respectively.

— The Summit Express