Manila, Philippines – President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday announced that Metro Manila, along with neighboring provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal, and Bulacan, will revert back to general community quarantine (GCQ) starting tomorrow, August 19, until August 31.
“Ang (the ones under) general community quarantine: NCR, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal,” President Duterte said, before mentioning other areas that are already in GCQ.
The capital, which accounted for the highest number of new COVID-19 cases in the country, reimposed a 13-day enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) two weeks ago to heed the call of the healthcare community for the government to refine its pandemic control strategies.
The Philippines now has 164,474 total confirmed cases, including 2,681 deaths and 112,759 recoveries as of this writing.
Localized lockdowns
On August 16, a day…