THE National Capital Region (NCR), provinces of Batangas and Lanao del Sur, and the cities of Iloilo, Bacolod, Tacloban and Iligan will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) in November 2020.

President Rodrigo Duterte announced the quarantine classifications for November 1 to 30, subject to appeal by the local government units (LGUs), in a public address held late Monday night, October 26, 2020, but broadcast on Tuesday morning, October 27.

He said coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases are still rising in the country, but the quarantine restrictions have proven to slow down transmission.

Among the areas on the list, NCR through its mayors had asked to remain under GCQ.

“Ang gusto ng karamihan, gusto nila (Most of them want to)...make it permanent because they have seen the goodness of the result, na (that) it has considerably lowered the number of people who are infected with the microbe,” Duterte said.

“Palagay ko naman, sa inyo pa rin itong kapakanan (I think this is still for your own good). Look, we are not here to make your life miserable or sad. We are here to make your life comfortable and to make you happy,” he added.

As of October 26, the Department of Health (DOH) has confirmed 371,630 cases of infection nationwide.

Of the total, 36,333 (9.8 percent) were active cases, 328,258 (88.3 percent) have recovered, and 7,039 (1.89 percent) had died.

The Philippines has the 20th highest number of coronavirus infections worldwide, according to the Johns Hopkins Coronavirus Resource Center. (MVI/SunStar Philippines)