The government's pandemic task force has placed Iloilo City and retained Apayao, Benguet, and Cagayan under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until the end of the month due to the surge of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases.
Based on Resolution No. 116-C of the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases escalated Iloilo City from the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) to MECQ starting May 23 until May 31.
Meanwhile, the IATF approved the recommendations of the Screening and Validation Committee to retain Apayao, Benguet, and Cagayan their risk-level classification of MECQ until the end of the month.
Based on the resolution, the quarantine classification of the said provinces and highly urbanized cities are without prejudice to their further reclassification as may be warranted and the declaration of localized Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in critical areas.
On May 9, the IATF placed Apayao, Benguet, and Cagayan under MECQ from May 10 to May 23 due to soaring COVID-19 cases.
The following cities are also under MECQ until the end of the month:
- The city of Santiago, Isabela
- Quirino
- Ifugao
- Zamboanga City
Meanwhile, the following are under the general community quarantine (GCQ) until May 31, 2021:
- Abra
- Bulacan
- Cavite
- Laguna
- Rizal
- National Capital Region
To date, the country has reported 1,178,217 COVID-19 cases, 19,946 of whom died while 1,103,945 recovered.