Guys, make up your mind!
A day after completely lifting quarantines in some “low-risk” areas in the Philippines, the Duterte government backtracked and decided to enforce something called modified general community quarantine in those regions instead.
What?
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said this new classification will be imposed because several governors and mayors appealed to the national government, saying that the complete absence of a lockdown could lead to the spread of the coronavirus.
Read: PH gov’t puts Metro Manila, Cebu City, Laguna under ‘modified’ enhanced community quarantine
“There were a lot of governors, mayors, who sent petitions, requests, saying that they are not yet ready to completely remove the community quarantine,” Secretary Año.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque announced yesterday that some areas—Regions I, IV-B, V, VI, VIII, X, XII, and the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region—will not be placed in either the general community quarantine or the enhanced community quarantine. This meant that all of their residents would have been able to go back to work, regardless of industry, but Año said they will now be placed under the modified general community quarantine from May 16 to 31. There will be some socio-economic activities in these regions, but specific guidelines on what is allowed (or not) will be released at a later date.
Confused yet? So are we.
“There will be no areas in the entire Philippines that is not under [a] community quarantine. The levels are just different,” Año said.
