Another province will shift to the most restrictive lockdown this month as the country's coronavirus cases continued to climb.

Malacañang announced that Bataan would be placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from August 8 to August 22, 2021 in a bid to stem the coronavirus spread.
"President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to place Bataan under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) beginning August 8 until August 22, 2021," Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said in a statement Saturday, August 7.
Prior to the escalation to ECQ, Bataan has been placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) until August 15, 2021.
As the government moves to quell the spread of the coronavirus driven by Delta variant, Bataan will join ECQ areas such as Metro Manila, Laguna, Iloilo City and Cagayan de Oro this month.
As of August 7, the country recorded 11,021 new cases of infections that pushed the total to 1,649,341. The country's death toll has reached 28,835.