(Fighting New Coronary Pneumonia) Manila extends the "revised version of strengthening community quarantine" policy until May 14
China News Agency, Manila, April 29 (Reporter Guan Xiangdong) On the evening of April 28 local time, Philippine President Duterte announced that the capital Metro Manila and the neighboring four provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Lebanon Immediately, the "Revised Version of Strengthening Community Quarantine" (MECQ) policy will be extended to May 14.
That night, Duterte apologized to the public in a taped speech to the people.
He said that in view of the continuous increase in the number of new coronavirus infections in the country, there is no choice to extend the quarantine policy in the capital region.
"This is necessary because the surge in cases has taken up our medical resources." Duterte once again called on the public to continue to abide by relevant anti-epidemic regulations during the epidemic.
According to the latest quarantine arrangement of the Philippine government, the cities of Santiago and Quirino, as well as the city of Abra in the Cordillera Administrative Region, will also implement the MECQ policy throughout May.
Harry Locke, spokesman for the Philippine Presidential Palace, said that the latest quarantine arrangement "depends on the recommendations of local government departments."
The goal of the Philippine government to extend the isolation policy is to reduce the utilization rate of health care services and the utilization rate of the intensive care unit (ICU), in order to gradually relax the community isolation status in various regions.
In early March, the Philippine capital Metro Manila saw a sudden increase in the epidemic.
On March 15, the Philippine government announced that the Metro Manila region would once again impose a curfew.
Starting from March 22, Metro Manila and the four surrounding provinces have successively implemented a week of "General Community Quarantine" (GCQ) and two weeks of "Enhanced Community Quarantine" (ECQ) policies.
On April 10, Duterte approved the continued "closure of the city" in the above-mentioned areas from April 12 to April 30, and the isolation level was reduced to "Revised Strengthened Community Quarantine" (MECQ).
On April 27, Philippine Health Minister Duque said that he was negotiating with an Austrian company to purchase 200 ICU beds.
According to data from the Ministry of Health of the Philippines on April 28, there were 6,895 newly confirmed cases in the country, with a total of over 1.02 million confirmed cases and over 17,000 deaths.
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