FILE PHOTO

The Metro Manila Council yesterday said quarantine passes for residents no longer required under the “heightened” modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting Saturday, Aug. 21.

MMC chairman and Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the difference now is we will not implement anymore the quarantine pass.

Under “heightened” MECQ, Olivarez said indoor and al-fresco dine-in services, and personal care services would still be prohibited while religious gatherings would remain virtual.

The nightly curfew of 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. remains in place to limit the movement of some 13 million people in the capital, he said.

The imposition of liquor ban is also left up to the decision of various local government units, Olivarez added.

For the rest of the month, he said mayors would implement strict granular lockdowns in a bid to halt the COVID-19 transmission.

“‘Yung ating mga clustering ay hindi po ‘yung buong barangay. Kundi particular lang ‘yung kalsada, building na puwede po nating i-lockdown para ma-contain ang COVID na ito,” he said.

(Our clustering will not be the whole village. But only particular areas such as a street or building to contain COVID.)

Olivarez also bared that the government would not anymore give a fresh round of financial assistance to low-income families.

“‘Yung MECQ po hindi po talaga magkakaroon kasi hirap na po talaga ang gobyerno talaga,” he said.

(Under MECQ, there will be no more [cash aid] because the government is really struggling.)

Metro Manila will be under the second strictest level of quarantine for the rest of August to curb the spread of COVID-19 linked to the more contagious Delta variant.

The capital region is still under enhanced community quarantine, the strictest lockdown measure, until Friday, Aug. 20.

He said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, the government’s leading task force against the pandemic, had a close vote on whether to downgrade or retain the restrictions in the capital region.

“Sa pagkakaalam ko, first time itong IATF na nag-close voting sila. Talagang mixed po ‘yung kanilang recommendation po kay Presidente,” he said.

(From what I know, this is the first that the IATF had a close vote. Their recommendation to President [Rodrigo Duterte] was mixed.)

The Philippines on Thursday reported 14,895 new COVID-19 cases, pushing its caseload to 1,791,003. The tally includes 1,648,402 recoveries, 111,720 active cases and 30,881 fatalities.