Philippine president Duterte to announce new community quarantine classifications on July 30
Philippine President Rodrigo Duterte in Tokyo, Japan, May 31, 2019. © Reuters / Kazuhiro Nogi / Pool. Sketched by the Pan Pacific Agency.
MANILA, Jul 29, 2020, PhilStar. President Rodrigo Duterte will announce new community quarantine classifications on Thursday, July 30, The Philippine Star reported.
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque on Wednesday told CNN Philippines that these new classifications would take effect on August 1.
Previous announcements were made hours before they would take effect, complicating implementation of new quarantine protocols.
Roque previously said that Metro Manila may revert back to a stricter enhanced community quarantine if cases nationwide breach 85,000 by the end of July.
However, even as there are over 83,000 COVID-19 infections in the country as of July 28, Roque was unwilling to divulge any forthcoming changes on lockdown restrictions.
“[It] will be the president that will announce it on Thursday, if I am not mistaken. And there’s still appeals to be made by the local government units,” he said.
He also said that “we have to rely less on community quarantine classifications.”
In the meantime, the COVID-19 task force spokesman promised “major changes” in the government’s response to the pandemic, touting major boosts in efforts to test, isolate and contact trace.
Dr. Tony Leachon, former COVID-19 task force adviser, has urged that the National Capital Region revert to a stricter enhanced community quarantine for two weeks given the rise in infections.
Mathemathics professor Guido David, a member of the UP OCTA Research group, has also said that tightening quarantine restrictions would help the region as other measures such as randomized testing and localized lockdowns are not sufficiently curbing the rise in cases.
David on Monday warned that COVID-19 cases could reach 90,000 by the end of July and 140,000 by the end of August.
As it stands, the country has been under community quarantine for 134 days — the longest quarantine period in the world.
Cases are still rising, with the health department logging over 2,000 cases new cases four days in a row from last Thursday to last Sunday.
On Tuesday, the DOH placed the national caseload at 83,673 and fatalities at 1,947.
Bella Perez-Rubio
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