Curfew hours in Metro Manila may be shortened in the coming days as the region continues to report decreasing new cases of COVID-19, Metropolitan Manila Development Authority (MMDA) Chairman Benhur Abalos said Tuesday, Oct. 12.
Currently, curfew hours in the region start at 10 p.m. until 4 a.m., which has been implemented since the pilot implementation of granular lockdowns in mid-September.
But as Metro Manila active COVID-19 cases went down by 50 percent from 38,471 to 17,296 in just a month, Abalos said during a Cabinet meeting with President Duterte that "Metro mayors may finally adjust the curfew hours."
The MMDA chief did not give specific time information about next curfew hours, but mayoral aspirant and Caloocan 1st District Rep. Along Malapitan announced in his Facebook page that the curfew hours will be implemented from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. in Metro Manila starting Wednesday, Oct. 13.
Meanwhile, Abalos also said that they will come up with a uniform policy pertaining to the observance of All Soul's Day.
"Hopefully, we'll also be having a really merry Christmas and no new COVID-19 variant will come," he added.
Metro Manila's COVID-19 reproduction rate decreased from 1.25 in September 16 to 0.61 in October 8.
Occupancy rate of isolation facilities also went down from 73 percent to 42 percent in just a month, Abalos said.