Duterte to announce fate of Metro Manila MECQ Thursday night —Palace

President Rodrigo Duterte will announce Thursday night the fate of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) being implemented in Metro Manila and other high-risk areas amid the COVID-19 pandemic, according to Malacanang.

Asked to confirm that the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has, through a memorandum, recommended a shift to general community quarantine (GCQ), presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said, "Can't [confirm]."

"PRRD (Duterte's initials) will announce tonight," he said in a message to reporters.

Based on a supposed copy of the memo that circulated online, Metro Manila will be placed under GCQ from June 1 to 15.

The IATF is the government's policy-making body in addressing the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayors in Metro Manila, during a meeting on Tuesday, all agreed that the region should already shift to GCQ from MECQ to allow some businesses to reopen. --KBK, GMA News