Metro Manila remains under general community quarantine (GCQ) from August 1 to 15, President Rodrigo Duterte announced in a televised address on July 31.
From modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), Cebu City restrictions will also be eased to GCQ from August 1 to 15.
Other areas under GCQ are Bulacan, Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal for Luzon; Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, Minglanilla and Consolacion for the Visayas; and Zamboanga City for Mindanao.
The rest of the country will remain under modified GCQ (MGCQ) until August 15.
GCQ is less stricter than MECQ. MGCQ, on the other hand, is the transition phase to the “new normal.”
For Metro Manila and Region IV-A to maintain their GCQ classification, the National Task Force (NTF), Department of Interior and Local Government, and Coordinated Operations to Defeat Epidemic Teams will implement in areas with high community transmission a strictly localized lockdown/ECQ in barangays where 80% of cases are located.
Part of the measures to be adopted are stringent enforcement of minimum health standards; massive targeted testing, intensified tracing, and quarantine of close contacts; isolation of confirmed cases; and strict adherence to Oplan Kalinga implementation.
Government hospitals in Metro Manila and Region 1V-A were directed to increase the number of hospital beds dedicated to coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients to between 30% and 50%, private hospitals to between 20% and 30%.
Health undersecretary Leopoldo Vega, also the NTF Treatment Czar, was directed to monitor compliance of hospitals.
Local government units (LGUs) were required to submit daily updates and weekly comprehensive reports containing daily trend of active cases, number and percent of population; and cases in community isolation facility versus health facility versus home for priority areas or barangays under localized lockdown.
Metrics to be submitted by LGUs are the percentage of close contacts traced and percentage of contacts in quarantine; number of utilization of community isolation beds; met health system capacity targets utilization; and COVID Special Teams investigations and results.
