NCR, other provinces to revert back to MECQ
President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the National Capital Region (NCR), Bulacan and the provinces of Laguna, Cavite, Rizal and Bulacan back in modified enhanced community quarantine effective tomorrow (Tuesday, August 4).
The reverting of lockdown level was made following the recommendation of Health Secretary Francisco Duque during the president's televised meeting late Sunday evening.
The approval from the chief executive also came after medical frontliners urged the government to place Metro Manila back to ECQ to give them rest and recalibrate strategies against the dreaded disease.
Based on the current guidelines set by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and the Department of Transportation (DOTr), public transportation shall again be suspended.
Only those personal vehicles and company shuttles that have been identified as authorized persons outside their residences (APOR), point-to-point transport services provided by the government and postal and courier services are allowed to operate, subject to the guidelines that the government has imposed.
“The use of bikes and other non-motorized transportation is strongly encouraged,” the guideline added.
For MECQ, rented company shuttles need to secure a special permit from the Land Transportation Franchising and Regulatory Board (LTFRB), and are only allowed to ferry 50 percent of its passenger capacity.
Meanwhile, since the MECQ is in place, back riding (also known as pillion riding) on motorcycles or bicycles will again be halted, countering the announcement of the Department of Interior and Local Government.
Photos from Presidential Communications Operations Office, Ruben D. Manahan IV
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