BY RICHA NORIEGA
The Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced Monday that businesses that recently opened under the general community quarantine (GCQ) such as dine-in restaurants, barbershops, and gyms will be temporarily closed again during the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
The department said that these businesses shall not be allowed to temporarily operate in the next 15 days.
“We hope that this break will allow these businesses to sufficiently prepare for better processes and facilities for compliance to the health standards when they soon reopen,” DTI Secretary Ramon Lopez said.
“We wish that this move back to MECQ will break the increasing trend of positive COVID cases and will eventually allow us to bring back the much needed livelihood and jobs to many of our countrymen,” Lopez added.
The DTI underscored that it is finding ways to address the concerns of the public.
“We believe in the wisdom of our President to temporarily institute stricter measures under the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) to prevent the growing number of cases, especially in the last five days,” Lopez added.
The DTI had earlier allowed the re-opening of dine-in restaurants and barbershops in areas under GCQ.
Tutorial and review centers, internet cafes, pet grooming, drive-in cinemas, dermatological clinics offering aesthetic procedures, gyms, fitness centers, and sports facilities were allowed to operate under GCQ but only at 30 percent operational capacity.
President Duterte sought the middle ground with medical frontliners as he approved on Sunday the recommendation to place Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal back under the MECQ from Aug. 4 to 18. (Richa Noriega)
