Metro Manila, CAR,6 areas under GCQ in February

MANILA — Metro Manila, the Cordilleras and 6 other areas will be under general community quarantine in February to arrest the spread of COVID-19, Malacañang said on Friday. 

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the following areas under GCQ from Feb. 1 to 28, his spokesman Harry Roque said.

• Metro Manila 
• CAR
  •   Abra
  •   Apayao
  •   Benguet
  •   Baguio City
  •   Ifugao
  •   Kalinga
  •   Mountain Province 
• Calabarzon         
  •   Batangas province 
• Region 8 
  •   Tacloban City 
• Region 11
  •   Davao City 
  •   Davao Del Norte
• BARMM
  •   Lanao Del Sur 
  •   Iligan City 

The rest of the country will be under modified GCQ, the most lenient lockdown level, Roque said in a public briefing. 

His announcement comes after a new, more contagious COVID-19 variant was detected in the country 

"Wala pa pong conclusive na datos na nakukuha kung prevalent na ang UK variant sa Pilipinas," said Roque. 

(There are no conclusive data yet on whether or not the UK variant is prevalent in the Philippines.)
 
"Almost 75 percent" of the economy is open in GCQ areas, said Roque. 

Metro Manila, which accounts for about a third of the country's gross domestic product, has been under GCQ since August 2020, with stricter lockdowns enforced in earlier months as COVID-19 infections rose. 

• Proposed GCQ status for Metro Manila in February a 'correct judgement': Galvez 

The Philippines has tallied 519,575 coronavirus infections, as of Monday. The unabated first wave of infections has prevented the economy from fully reopening.