Manila MECQ to Sept 7, ‘granular’ lockdowns mulled

Aug 30, 2021 Newsdesk Latest News, Philippines, Top of the deck  

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Metro Manila, including the Philippine capital, will remain under “modified enhanced community quarantine” (MECQ), the second-strictest quarantine classification level, until September 7, said on Saturday the presidential palace.

Metro Manila is home to Entertainment City, a zone of large-scale commercial casino resorts.

The Philippine authorities previously downgraded with effect from August 21 to this Tuesday (August 31), the Covid-19 countermeasures in the National Capital Region to MECQ from “enhanced community quarantine” (ECQ).

Gaming operations at a number of casino resorts in Entertainment City remained suspended as of last week, despite the relaxation in quarantine restrictions, according to notices on their respective websites.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases “retained the modified enhanced community quarantine status of the National Capital Region,” said Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, in a press statement, cited by the official Philippine News Agency.

Mr Roque said “added restrictions” on dining, personal care services and religious activities would be imposed in Metro Manila and two other areas: Bataan and Laguna.

On Friday, the country’s Secretary of the Interior and Local Government, Eduardo Año, said – as cited by the Philippine News Agency – that the national government was considering what were termed “granular” lockdowns. These were one of a number of measures to enable “living with the virus”, and to minimise the impact of quarantine restrictions on people’s livelihoods and the economy.

The Philippines recorded on Sunday a total of 18,528 new cases of Covid-19 and 101 more deaths, taking the tally of infections since the start of the crisis to more than 1.95 million, including 33,109 deaths.

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