Metro Manila mayors eyeing ECQ extension
Metro Manila mayors are considering the extension of the two-week Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) lockdown as the new COVID-19 cases in the region rose to a four-month record high of 12,439 on Thursday.
Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said that the Metro Manila Council (MMC) will look through all the data with the Department of Health (DOH) and other experts four days before the ECQ’s last day.
“If we will see a reduction in cases, gradually our quarantine will be lowered but definitely it will not be a GCQ (a general community quarantine). That’s why we will look at the data,” Olivarez added.
DOH Secretary Francisco Duque III said it is still early to discuss the ECQ extension given the absence of data at this point.
Meanwhile, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) is pushing back against the extension and wants the NCR to be placed under a less strict quarantine after August 20.
