(Eagle News) – President Rodrigo Duterte decided to continue to place Metro Manila and the provinces of Batangas, Lanao del Sur, Iligan, and the cities of Iloilo, Tacloban and Davao under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) until year-end.
In a televised address to the nation, Duterte on Monday night, Nov. 30, said that there has to be a continued GCQ in these areas as COVID cases continued to rise in these areas.
The rest of the country will be under Modified GCQ from Deecember 1 until 31.
Duterte made the announcement on Nov. 30, Bonifacio Day, as he also honored the country’s front liners.
He said that the recommendation for GCQ in Metro Manila, and the other areas mentioned was also based on the recommendation of Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Earlier, Metro Manila mayors also recommended that the Philippine capital to continue to be under GCQ.
As of 4 p.m., November 30, the Department of Health recorded 1,773 additional cases of COVID-19, bringing the total confirmed cases so far at 431,630.
There were also 33 new recoveries and 19 deaths.
Of the total number of recorded cases in the country, 5.7 % (24,580) were active cases, 92.4 % (398,658) recovered, and 1.94 % (8,392) died.
Duterte said that the public should continue to strictly observe minimum health protocols including wearing of face masks, frequent handwashing, and social distancing, and to avoid crowded places to prevent COVID-19 infection, as there is still no cure for the disease,
The Philippine government is also trying to secure much-needed vaccines against COVID-19 for the country, and planning mass vaccination which will start by late second quarter of next year.
(Eagle News Service)
