The time is not yet right for NCR Plus to be placed under the least restrictive modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) status after June 15 amid the COVID-19 pandemic, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said Monday.
Interviewed on Unang Balita, Roque said it is highly likely that NCR Plus — or Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal — will be placed under “ordinary” GCQ starting June 16.
NCR Plus is under GCQ “with restrictions” until June 15.
“Ang problema po natin mataas pa rin yung actual numbers, hindi pa tayo nakakabalik sa mga numero natin bago pumasok ang new variants [The problem is our numbers have yet to return to that level before the emergence of new coronavirus variants],” said Roque.
Before the detection of new coronavirus variants in the country, Metro Manila, according to Roque, was recording about 1,000 new COVID-19 cases daily. Even then, Metro Manila was never placed under MGCQ.
On Sunday, June 13, the Department of Health recorded 7,302 new COVID-19 infections, pushing the nationwide total tally to 1,315,639.
“So ang nakikita ko po ay ordinaryong GCQ pero sa tingin ko po mukang malabo pa yung MGCQ [So I’m seeing ordinary GCQ and not MGCQ],” Roque said.
Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), the government’s policy-making body in addressing the pandemic, is set to meet on Monday to discuss the next quarantine classifications not only in NCR Plus but in other areas as well.
The recommendation will then be forwarded to President Rodrigo Duterte for approval.
Roque is also the spokesperson of the IATF.
Similar to Roque’s forecast, Metro Manila’s mayors are also looking into the possibility of placing the region under a “normal” GCQ starting June 16, according to a 24 Oras report on Sunday.
OCTA Research has earlier said NCR Plus is not yet ready to shift to MGCQ since the average number of new COVID-19 cases remains high. —KBK, GMA News
Read more, click here: GMA News
7 Easy Ways To Make Extra Money At Home
