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It’s been two years since the Covid-19 was declared as a pandemic. No country was spared from its ill effects—increasing number of cases, lockdowns, loss of lives and livelihood, among others. But now, some nations, including the Philippines, are starting to see some semblance of normalcy as the Covid-19 situation continues to improve. Metro Manila was first put under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on March 15, 2020 and two days later—March 17, the Philippine government decided to implement the said strictest quarantine level in the entire island of Luzon in order to curb the rising number of infections then. “When the lockdown was enforced two years ago, I felt that it’s going to be difficult for most of the Filipinos because we were not used to that. It was scary at first knowing that our movements would be very limited,” said Renz Kenneth De Guzman, 26, a resident of Meycauayan in Bulacan. “During that time, the company that I was working for temporarily had to halt its operations. As a result, I was greatly affected and had to go back home,” he added. Under the ECQ, Filipinos were required to strictly stay at home. People would only be allowed to go out to access basic necessities such as buying food and medicine. Public transportation was suspended, businesses considered as non-essential were closed, and on-campus classes were suspended. Most work were also suspended while some operated in a skeletal workforce or have implemented a work-from-home arrangement. “As a healthcare worker, I was one of those people who got affected by the pandemic and lockdown that happened two years ago. The area of my life that really affected me so much was my job,” said Jennifer Orbigo, 26, a resident of Meycauyan in Bulacan. “It was much harder to continue working with a lot of restrictions, a lot of worries for myself and my family that I ended up having to stop working for a while,” she added.

State-run Social Security System (SSS) has extended the payment deadline for July contributions of regular employers due to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

Several parishes in Metro Manila maintained the suspension of public Masses as the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) deferred its decision to pilot general community quarantine (GCQ) with granular lockdowns.

The government’s chief economic manager said the two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been a big achievement for the country’s inoculation program despite the sustained surge in infections.

The government’s pandemic task force has agreed to downgrade the National Capital Region (NCR) and Laguna from their enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status to the modified ECQ (MECQ) starting August 21 despite the continued rise in coronavirus (COVID-19) cases, Malacañang said.

President Duterte may deliver another public address this week to announce Metro Manila’s new quarantine classification as its stay under strict lockdown is set to end on August 20, Malacañang said.

The Department of Health (DOH) said that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) vaccination in Metro Manila has improved during the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

The government should consider shifting Metro Manila under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) after Aug. 20, but stricter localized lockdowns must be implemented in areas experiencing a spike in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, a special adviser to the Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) said.

A coalition of concerned citizens and organizations on Monday, Aug. 16, batted for more testing and contact tracing, noting that enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) alone will not curb coronavirus.

Malacañang said that 29.31 percent of the P11.25 billion allotted for the financial assistance or ayuda for families in the National Capital Region (NCR) has been distributed to qualified recipients.

Health workers on Monday, Aug. 16, urged the government to implement strict health measures to ensure the safety of Filipinos, instead of blaming the public for the rising coronavirus cases.

The reimposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in Metro Manila was "barely felt" by "exhausted" health workers overwhelmed by the surge in cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) needing hospital care.

Laguna will be staying under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status until August 20, 2021, to slow down the surge of coronavirus (COVID-19) cases in the province.

The Anti-Red Tape Authority (ARTA) has served a show-cause order to another barangay executive for alleged refusal to give quarantine passes to residents who have not yet completed their vaccination against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).

Some IATF-EID and TAG members, including myself, went to Cebu at the end of June and presented the threat of Delta to the Cebu Provincial Board. We warned that if Delta got into Cebu due to lax border control, a bad surge was forthcoming. Delta is now in Cebu causing a large spike in cases, overwhelming their healthcare system.

A total of P10.894 billion was released by the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) to aid residents and families affected by the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in the National capital Region (NCR).

Socioeconomic Planning Secretary Karl Kendrick T. Chua raised his initial estimated losses from the two-week lockdown from P210 billion to P300 billion after other areas outside the National Capital Region (NCR) were also placed under varying levels of strict quarantine controls.

The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) has temporarily closed its head office in Pasay City amid the imposition of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).