(Eagle News) — Metro Manila plus areas could ease into a normal General Community Quarantine (GCQ) protocol by Wednesday, June 16, National Task Force against COVID-19 special adviser Dr. Ted Herbosa.
“I think tonight mag-aannounce ang ating Presidente. Ang aking fearless forecast ay normal GCQ na lang,” Dr. Herbosa said in an interview with the Eagle News Service program Balitalakayan on Monday, June 14.
Herbosa said that the slow easing of restrictions was followed in Metro Manila or the National Capital Region, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal – also known as the NCR plus areas.
“Yun naman ang strategy nung umpisa pa, especially in Metro Manila, to open up the economy, especially in NCR very slowly,” he said.
This was why the NCR plus areas were first placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions, GCQ with restrictions, and now the expected restriction protocol by June 16 is ordinary GCQ, said Herbosa.
This has resulted in the decrease in COVID-19 cases in the Philippine capital, as well as the lowering of the health care utilization rate.
More of the COVID-19 cases are reported in Visayas and Mindanao, however, particularly in Mindanao. These areas are expected to be placed under a more restrictive protocol, said Herbosa.
President Rodrigo Duterte is expected to make the announcement on the new quarantine protocols effective June 16, tonight, June 14, during his scheduled “Talk to the People” address.
(Eagle News Service)
