DOH debunks information on Metro Manila’s return to ECQ

The Department of Health (DOH) belied rumors circulating on social media that Metro Manila will revert to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) on Monday.

“Wala pa pong nilalabas ang IATF (Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases) na recommendations ukol dito sa June 15 decisions. Lahat ng lalabas ay wala pang basehan,” said DOH spokesperson Maria Rosario Vergeire.

(The IATF has not released any recommendations related to June 15 decisions. All rumors coming out are baseless)

Vergeire said the IATF will send its recommendations on the quarantine status of Metro Manila to President Rodrigo Duterte by Monday.

The spokesperson advised the public to focus on staying safe and healthy as they could not yet tell if the country is already flattening the curve of COVID-19 infections in terms of doubling time and care utilization rate.

She also emphasized the need to follow health protocols such as the wearing of facemasks and social distancing measures to avoid COVID-19 infection.

Vergeire added that people should wear their facemasks in the proper way, which means that both nose and mouth are covered by the masks.

She also discouraged non-frontliner Filipinos from using N95 masks to ensure the supply of the mask type for medical frontliners. 

The IATF placed Metro Manila under ECQ in March after the country reported its first COVID-19 case. This was shifted to modified ECQ and then to GCQ (general community quarantine) in May.