[UPDATED] Enhanced Community Quarantine Extended for Benguet and other Areas
President Duterte, as recommended by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), orders the extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Benguet and other high-risk areas until May 15, 2020 due to COVID-19.
Enhanced Community Quarantine Extension
In a press briefing by the Presidential Communications Office, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque mentioned that the ECQ extension will be implemented in the following areas throughout the country:
UPDATED as of April 28, 2020
Under the IATF Resolution No. 29, the following areas will extend Enhanced Community Quarantine status until May 15, 2020:
- National Capital Region
- Region 3; except Aurora Province
- Region IV-A CALABARZON
- Benguet
- Baguio City
- Pangasinan
- Province of Iloilo
- Province of Cebu
- Cebu City
- Davao City
Reevaluation shall be conducted for the high risk areas on May 16, 2020. Areas not included in the list will undergo the new normal, the General Community Quarantine.
As Recommended by IATF
The decision to extend the ECQ was brought about by a series of meetings and recommendations by the IATF-EID. The IATF was tasked to classify which areas in Luzon have low, moderate, and high risk in Luzon after a consensus in a prior meeting has emerged saying that the ECQ does not have to cover the entire island. Health experts suggested that the stringent quarantine measures should only continue in areas classified as high risk, with a high concentration in positive COVID-19 cases. Initially, the Luzon-wide ECQ was scheduled to last until April 14, but was extended until April 30.
Source: PCOO
