Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday, July 23, 2021 announced that the National Capital Region (NCR) and 4 provinces have been placed under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions.
This is after President Rodrigo Duterte approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) with the same rules when NCR was previously under GCQ with heightened restrictions.
Roque said that aside from NCR,the provinces of Ilocos Norte,Ilocos Sur, Davao Del Norte and Davao De Oro have been placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions effective July 23 until July 31, 2021.
In accordance with IATF Resolution No. 125, Series of 2021, children five (5) years old and above in NCR and tha said 4 provinces will not be allowed to go to outdoor areas.
The Department of Health (DOH) yesterday, July 22, 2021 confirmed the local transmission of the highly contagious Delta variant (B.1.617.2) in the country.
“Following the phylogenetic analysis conducted by the University of the Philippines – Philippine Genome Center, and case investigation by the DOH Epidemiology Bureau and the regional and local epidemiology and surveillance units, clusters of Delta variant cases were seen to be linked to other local cases, therefore, exhibiting local transmission,” DOH confirmed.
The DOH also explained that upon detection of local cases with the Delta variant, the government has initiated enhanced COVID-19 response in areas where Delta variant cases were detected through the implementation of the four-door strategy.
Both the national and local governments have been continuously working together to intensify the implementation of the Prevent, Detect, Isolate, Treat and Re-integrate (PDITR) response strategies and increase the country’s health system capacity to be able to manage cases.
DOH reminds the public that while the government is strengthening the implementation of PDITR at the local level and augmenting the healthcare capacity, the best defense against any COVID-19 variant is still the correct and consistent adherence to the minimum public health standards and getting vaccinated when it is their turn.