CEBU province has been downgraded from stricter modified enhanced community quarantine to general community quarantine “with heightened restrictions,” Malacañang said on Sunday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said President Rodrigo Roa Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to place Cebu province under GCQ from Aug. 1 to 15.

“Cebu Province now under GCQ with heightened restrictions until Aug. 15,” Roque said in a statement.

Last Friday, Roque announced that Cebu province and its city have been upgraded to MECQ until Aug. 15 “subject to further appeals by their local government units.”

Roque said the IATF-EID also reclassified the quarantine classifications of Laguna and Aklan from GCQ with heightened restrictions to MECQ until Aug. 15.

“Apayao is likewise placed from GCQ to MECQ from August 1 to August 15, 2021,” he added.

Meanwhile, Roque said the IATF approved the shortening of detection to isolation/quarantine interval to less than five days.

“These include the conduct of active case finding in all areas, prioritizing those with clustering; the tracing of close contacts of suspect, probable, and confirmed cases within 24 hours of detection of a case; the immediate isolation /quarantine and testing of cases and close contacts; the use of rapid antigen tests for confirmation of suspect/probable case and close contacts; reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing to those who turned negative on rapid antigen testing; identification of areas with case increases or clustering by the local government units (LGUs) and regional epidemiological surveillance units and their immediate submission of samples for sequencing; ensuring that workplaces and establishments conduct daily health and exposure screening, report identified case and close contacts to the LGU, and coordinate for investigation and response; and considering incentives in workplaces to encourage reporting and adherence to isolation/quarantine,” he said.

He said the IATF-EID also approved the implementation of giving priority to facility-based isolation and quarantine to prevent household transmission; making readily available and accessible health care capacities and systems in preparation for case spikes; ramping up of vaccination among Priority Groups A2 and A3 populations with parallel efforts of vaccinating the A4 population, if resources are adequate; strict enforcement of border control protocols at all ports of entry; continuous assessment of the Covid-19 situation at all levels; and the dissemination of information on the variants of concern and expected actions to be undertaken by individuals, establishments and implementers.

Other quarantine classifications Roque earlier said Metro Manila will be placed under the most restrictive ECQ from Aug. 6 to 20 to prevent the spread of the more infectious Delta coronavirus variant.

Apart from Metro Manila, Iloilo province and its city, Cagayan de Oro City, and the City of Gingoog in Misamis Oriental have also been placed under ECQ from July 21 to Aug. 7.

Other areas under MECQ until Aug. 15 include the provinces of Ilocos Norte and Bataan provinces and the cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue.

Bulacan, Cavite, Rizal, Ilocos Sur, Cagayan, Lucena City, Naga City, Bacolod City, Capiz, Negros Oriental, Zamboanga del Sur, Misamis Oriental, Davao City, Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, Davao Occidental, and Butuan City will remain under GCQ with heightened restrictions from Aug. 1 to 15.

On the other hand, the GCQ classification without restrictions will be imposed in Baguio City, City of Santiago in Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Quezon, Batangas, Puerto Princesa, Guimaras, Negros Occidental, Zamboanga Sibugay, City of Zamboanga, Zamboanga del Norte, Davao Oriental, and Davao del Sur from Aug. 1 to 31.

General Santos City, Sultan Kudarat, Sarangani, North Cotabato, South Cotabato, Agusan del Norte, Surigao del Norte, Agusan del Sur, Dinagat Islands, Surigao del Sur, and Cotabato City in the Bangsamoro Autonomous Region in Muslim Mindanao will also be put under regular GCQ for the entire month of August.

The rest of the country will stay under MGCQ this month. Philippine News Agency