MANILA (UPDATE) - The provinces of Bulacan, Apayao and Capiz will be placed under general community quarantine from Oct. 18 to 31, Malacañang said Sunday.
Bulacan and Apayao were initially placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), while Capiz was initially placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions, said Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque.
The Department of Health had earlier flagged the rising number of virus infections in northern Luzon.
The government implements a 4-level community quarantine scheme ranging from the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), to the most relaxed MGCQ, in areas outside of Metro Manila.
Each level dictates the type of business activities allowed in a certain area, as well as travel restrictions.
A new 5-level alert system, on the other hand, is being pilot-tested in Metro Manila, which also goes with granular lockdowns.
The inter-agency task force on COVID-19 approved the recommendation to place the capital region under Alert Level 3 from Oct. 16 to 31, down from Alert Level 4 first imposed on Sept. 16, Roque announced last Wednesday.
The following quarantine classifications for other areas are also in effect until the end of the month:
MODIFIED ENHANCED COMMUNITY QUARANTINE
Luzon
- Kalinga
- Batanes
- Bataan
- Cavite
- Rizal
- Laguna
- Naga City
Mindanao
- Zamboanga City
- Zamboanga del Norte
GENERAL COMMUNITY QUARANTINE WITH HEIGHTENED RESTRICTIONS
Luzon
- Abra
- Baguio City
- Ilocos Sur
- Pangasinan
- Cagayan
- Isabela
- City of Santiago
- Nueva Vizcaya
- Quirino
- Quezon
- Batangas
Visayas
- Bacolod City
- Lapu-Lapu City
- Negros Oriental
- Bohol
Mindanao
- Zamboanga del Sur
- Misamis Oriental
- Cagayan de Oro City
- Davao del Norte
- Davao Occidental
- Davao de Oro
- Butuan City
- Surigao del Sur
GENERAL COMMUNITY QUARANTINE
Luzon
- Ilocos Norte
- Dagupan City
- Ifugao
- Benguet
- Tarlac
- Lucena City
- Occidental Mindoro
- Oriental Mindoro
- Puerto Princesa
- Marinduque
- Albay
- Camarines Norte
Visayas
- Aklan
- Antique
- Guimaras
- Negros Occidental
- Iloilo City
- Iloilo Province
- Cebu City
- Cebu Province
- Mandaue City
- Siquijor
- Tacloban City
Mindanao
- Zamboanga Sibugay
- Misamis Occidental
- Iligan City
- Davao City
- Davao Oriental
- Davao del Sur
- General Santos City
- Sultan Kudarat
- Sarangani
- North Cotabato
- South Cotabato
- Agusan del Norte
- Agusan del Sur
- Surigao del Norte
- Dinagat Islands
- Cotabato City
- Lanao del Sur
All other areas are under MGCQ.
The country has 2,713,509 total COVID-19 cases as of Saturday, of which 85,048 remain active, according to the health department.
Nearly 24 million people in the Philippines have been fully vaccinated against COVID-19, while some 27.5 million others have received their first does, as of Thursday. The government aims to fully vaccinate more than 77 million to achieve herd immunity against the disease.
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