PRESIDENT Rodrigo Duterte on Friday, July 31, 2020, approved the easing of quarantine restrictions in Cebu City, placing the central Philippine city under general community quarantine (GCQ) for August 1 to 15, 2020.

The National Capital Region (NCR) and 11 other areas would remain under GCQ because of still unabated transmission of Sars-CoV-2, which causes coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Areas under GCQ are:

• NCR;
• Cebu City;
• Bulacan;
• Batangas, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal in Calabarzon;
• Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City, Talisay City, Minglanilla and Consolacion in Cebu; and
• Zamboanga City.

• Imposition of strict localized lockdowns in areas with high number of cases;
• Strict enforcement of minimum health standards - physical distancing, washing of hands, wearing of face mask, wearing of face shield;
• Conduct of massive targeted testing using pooled testing scheme, intensified contact tracing and quarantine of close contacts;
• Isolation of confirmed cases; and
• Strict adherence to the implementation of Oplan Kalinga for confirmed cases.