Metro Manila and Davao City have been recommended to be placed under a general community quarantine starting June 1, a special adviser to the National Task Force for COVID-19 confirmed yesterday.
“Meanwhile, Cebu City will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine. The rest of the country will be under modified GCQ but we will still closely monitor these areas,” Dr. Anthony Leachon said.
To balance the economy and public health, the special adviser said some areas in Metro Manila that have “good performance” will be under GCQ. The barangays will be classified using color codes — red for critical zone and orange for containment zone. Areas under the containment zone are those under GCQ, he pointed out.
Leachon said a “granular” or detailed data using satellite map or graphic information will be provided to the local government units to determine specific area classifications.
For example, he explained that an area will be placed under critical zone if it has more than 20 cases per 100,000 population, while an area will be placed under containment zone if it has less than 20 cases per 100,000 population.
He said the ratio and proportion per barangay will be adjusted accordingly.
Should cases spike in GCQ areas, the local government unit concerned will be informed by the National Task Force on COVID-19 to immediately “re-clamp down” the area.
“Hindi mo na hihintayin ‘yung 14 days, June 15, para magclamp down ka,” Leachon said.
Different sets of criteria will also be used in classifying densely populated and rural areas, he added.
“Babantayan diyan yung mga mall, market, (at) sakayan, iimpose natin yan (social distancing). Dapat may shared responsibility din. Ang nangyayari kapag meron tayong laya nakakalimutan na natin yung ating disiplina ang commitment,” he said. (Ellalyn V. Ruiz)
