MANILA (UPDATED) - The government on Saturday said it has expanded the list of construction activities allowed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the government body tasked with drawing the guidelines for checking the spread of COVID-19 has approved a list of private and public construction that are allowed under the ECQ.

The Inter-agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) amended the "Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines" to allow construction projects deemed "priority," Roque said.

For the private sector, these types of construction are now allowed:

• food production
• agriculture-related
• fisheries-related
• fish port development
• energy
• housing
• communication
• water facilities
• manufacturing
• business process outsourcing (BPO)

The following types of public construction projects are also allowed:

• construction for quarantine and isolation facilities
• facilities for construction personnel who perform emergency works flood control and other disaster risk and rehabilitation programs
• sewerage projects
• water service facility projects

• LIST: Businesses allowed in enhanced, general quarantine areas

Under previous lockdown rules, construction was limited to health sector-related projects like quarantine facilities, emergency works, flood control, and other disaster risk mitigation and rehabilitation infrastructure.

This means that construction workers accredited by the Department of Public Works and Highways can now "report back to their worksites," Roque said.

Metro Manila and other areas at high-risk for COVID-19 spread remain under lockdown until May 15.