A council of mayors is requiring "strict compliance" with health protocols from Metro Manila’s 12 million people as the region loosened Wednesday its coronavirus lockdown.

During the general community quarantine or GCQ, residents still need passes to go on supply runs, said Metro Manila Council chairman Parañaque Mayor Edwin Olivarez.

Those aged 60 above and below 21 are prohibited from venturing out of their homes, he said.

Workers in authorized industries only need their company IDs and are exempted from the quarantine pass system and the region-wide curfew from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m., he said.

City councils will come up with local ordinances setting penalties for failure to wear face shields in workplaces, public vehicles and crowded areas, said Olivarez.

Restaurants’ dine in services will be limited to 30 percent of their capacity, while salons and barbershops may only offer haircuts and not other services like manicures and hair dyes, he said.

“Itong napagkasunduan po namin, ng ating Metro Manila mayors… ay iyong strict compliance ng GCQ,” he told ABS-CBN’s TeleRadyo.

(The Metro Manila mayors agreed on strict compliance with the GCQ.)

"Ibig sabihin po nito, iyong original na version ng GCQ, iyon po ang paiiralin natin kasi habang tumagal po iyong dati nating GCQ, nag-relax po nang kaunti, nagluwag po siya,” he added.

(This means that the original version of the GCQ will be enforced because in the latter part of the previous GCQ, it got relaxed and looser.)

Metro Manila was in GCQ when coronavirus cases surged and prompted exhausted medical workers to appeal for "breathing space."

Granting their request, President Rodrigo Duterte placed the region and 4 surrounding provinces under MECQ or modified enhance community quarantine, the second strictest lockdown level, from Aug. 4 to 18.

Watch Olivarez’s full interview on GCQ guidelines here.

TeleRadyo, Aug. 19, 2020