Duterte declares areas under MECQ, GCQ due to COVID-19 surge

President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night placed several areas under modified enhanced community quarantine and general community quarantine amid the resurgence in the number of COVID-19 cases.

In his weekly public address, Duterte said the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal will remain under ECQ until April 4.

He said the extension of the ECQ in the NCR Plus bubble is still subject for review.

Duterte placed Quirino Province under modified ECQ from April 1 to 15.

Santiago City, Isabela will also be under MECQ from April 1 to 30, the chief executive said.

The Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas, Tacloban City, Iligan City, Davao City, and Lanao del Sur will be under general community quarantine from April 1 to 30.

The rest of the country will be under MGCQ.

On Monday, the country reported a record 10,016 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the total tally to 731,894 with 603,213 recoveries and 13,186 deaths.

Total active cases in the country reached 115,495.

On Saturday, the government placed Metro Manila and nearby provinces under ECQ from March 29 to April 4 in a bid to address the rising number of COVID-19 infections.

Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said the government again imposed the ECQ over NCR Plus to stop active COVID-19 cases from climbing to 430,000 by the end of April.

Vergeire said projections by modeling tool FASSSTER showed that “further exponential increase [is] likely” if “we are not going to impose harder lockdowns or harder measures.”

She added that the country’s health system is “choking,” with healthcare utilization rates reaching  63% in Metro Manila and 58% in CALABARZON. --NB, GMA News