The government's pandemic task force has approved the appeal of the local governments of Zamboanga City and Tacloban City to change their quarantine classifications as the country continues to grapple with the effects of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic.
Presidential Spokesman Harry Roque made the announcement a week after the quarantine classifications for the month of May took effect.
In an interview over State-run PTV-4, Roque said the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases placed Zamboanga City under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) effective immediately until May 14, 2021.
The IATF also placed Tacloban City under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) until May 31, 2021, effective immediately.
Here is the updated list of areas under the MECQ until May 14, 2021, as of May 7:
- Metro Manila
- Bulacan
- Cavite
- Laguna
- Rizal
- Abra
- Ifugao
- City of Santiago, Isabela
- Quirino
- Zamboanga City
The areas under the GCQ until the end of the month are:
- Apayao
- Baguio City
- Benguet
- Kalinga
- Mt. Province
- Cagayan
- Isabela
- Nueva Vizcaya
- Batangas
- Quezon Province
- Puerto Princesa City (added)
- Iligan City
- Davao City
- Lanao del Sur
Meanwhile, the rest of the country will be under the modified GCQ (MGCQ) until the end of the month.
To date, the Philippines has 1,080,172 COVID-19 cases, 17,991 of whom died while 999,011 recovered.