MANILA – The entire Western Visayas would remain under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) for the month of March, as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
In an online presser aired at state-run PTV4, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Duterte approved such recommendation.
For Iloilo City, this will be its third straight month or being under MGCQ, while it is Bacolod City’s fourth consecutive month to be under the lighter community quarantine status.
Iloilo Province, Negros Occidental, Guimaras, Aklan, Antique, and Capiz have been under the MGCQ status since June last year.
Prior to the announcement of quarantine classification for this month, there were hopes that some areas that were under MGCQ, including Western Visayas, could shift to the “new normal” classification.
During an interview with PTV4 on Feb. 17, Roque said the IATF-EID was finalizing guidelines, including the dos and the don’ts, on “new normal” for places that have had no COVID-19 transmission for a long time.
“Sa gayon po magkaroon tayo ng pag-asa talagang may katapusan itong COVID-19 pandemic na ito dahil although wala pang bakuna, may mga lugar nang walang transmission,” Roque said.
The IATF-EID previously considered shifting of areas under the “new normal” classification that does not have COVID-19 transmission in the past month.
The “new normal” classification used to be the fifth and lowest quarantine classification in the country until the IATF-EID removed it in June.
Under the new normal, travel and business restrictions are lifted provided that minimum health standards are observed./PN
