AMID a sharp spike in local transmission of the deadly virus from Wuhan, China, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases is keeping Quirino province under the second most stringent lockdown classification.
Quirino province’s extended Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ), supposedly in place until April 15, will remain in effect until April 30, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said.
Quirino has tallied 1,076 coronavirus infections, of which 427 were active as of Thursday, according to the Department of Health’s COVID-19 case tracker.
Other areas under MECQ until April 30 include Metro Manila, surrounding Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal provinces, and Santiago City.
The NCR Plus region was previously under ECQ, the toughest quarantine level that banned non-essential movement and allowed only selected industries to operate at full capacity.
Interestingly, the most recent government-imposed lockdown resulted in the loss of jobs of some 1.5 million workers and resulted in P180 billion in economic losses.