If you’re thinking that you could forget your pandemic blues by partying this Christmas, think again.
Holiday parties are banned in the National Capital Region (NCR), Interior Secretary Eduardo Año announced today, because the area remains under the general community quarantine (GCQ).
He added in an interview with ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo that the region is not yet ready for the looser modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) because this might lead to an increase in COVID-19 cases.
Read: Metro Manila to implement 12am to 4am curfew starting this week
“Under GCQ, parties are prohibited. Our NCR, the mayors, have agreed that we are under GCQ. It will relax a bit to revive the economy, but we can’t shift yet to MGCQ. The MGCQ is a complete package. If you suddenly shift to that automatic, all activities are under 50% capacity. People might have get-togethers. We will end up wasting what we have worked hard for in the past seven months if we experience a surge [of COVID-19 cases],” Año said in English and Filipino.
The Philippines has the second-highest number of COVID-19 cases in Southeast Asia, with 359,169 cases reported as of yesterday, including 6,675 deaths and 310,303 recoveries.
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