PRESIDENT Duterte approved the recommendation to place Apayao, Laguna, and Aklan under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), the second strictest form of lockdown being implemented by the government.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque on Sunday said these three areas will be under MECQ from August 1 to 15. This after the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases made the recommendation to the President. Laguna and Aklan were previously placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions while Apayao was under GCQ.
Meanwhile, Roque also announced that Cebu Province will now be placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions, a looser form of lockdown compared to its previous classification under MECQ. The new classification will take effect until August 15.
Apart from this, Malacañang said the IATF approved the shortening of detection to isolation/quarantine interval to less than five days.
Also approved by the IATF are prioritizing facility-based isolation and quarantine to prevent household transmission and preparing accessible health care capacities and systems for case spikes.
It also agreed to ramp up vaccination among Priority Groups A2 and A3 populations with parallel efforts of vaccinating the A4 population, if resources are adequate.
Strict enforcement of border control protocols at all ports of entry, continuous assessment of the Covid-19 situation at all levels; and dissemination of information on the variants of concern and expected actions to be undertaken by individuals, establishments and implementers were also approved by the IATF.