{"id":255664,"date":"2020-05-21T07:38:02","date_gmt":"2020-05-21T11:38:02","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/?p=255664"},"modified":"2020-05-21T07:38:02","modified_gmt":"2020-05-21T11:38:02","slug":"nationwide-gcq-possible-by-august-palace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/2020\/05\/21\/nationwide-gcq-possible-by-august-palace\/","title":{"rendered":"Nationwide GCQ possible by August: Palace"},"content":{"rendered":"
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FILE: Vehicles passing through EDSA increases on Wednesday (May 6, 2020) but seem to be practicing social distancing under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed to contain the coronavirus disease. (PNA photo by Robert Oswald P. Alfiler)<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

MANILA<\/strong>\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday floated the possibility that the entire country might be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) by August.<\/p>\n

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said it is likely possible to impose GCQ nationwide by August, so long as all Filipinos heed the national government\u2019s quarantine protocols that have been enforced to arrest the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).<\/p>\n

\u201cPero sa ngayon po<\/em>\u00a0(For now), for purposes of planning, we\u2019re assuming that with (the) cooperation of everyone,\u00a0pupwede na po na buong Pilipinas ay mag-<\/em>GCQ (it is possible that the entire Philippines may be under GCQ) by August,\u201d Roque said in a virtual presser aired on state-run PTV-4.<\/p>\n

He broached the idea as he assured the public that the Philippines remains in the first wave of the Covid-19 pandemic, contradicting Health Secretary Francisco Duque\u2019s recent pronouncement that the country is now facing the second wave of the outbreak.<\/p>\n

\u201cWe\u2019re hoping that by August 24, which is the mandated day\u00a0para mag-simula ang mga<\/em>\u00a0public school,\u00a0ay nasa<\/em>\u00a0GCQ\u00a0na po ang buong Pilipinas<\/em>\u00a0(We\u2019re hoping that by August 24, which is the mandated day for public schools to resume classes, the entire Philippines would already be under GCQ),\u201d Roque said.<\/p>\n

In a press statement, the Alliance of Concerned Teachers (ACT) – Philippines said there has been apprehension among parents, teachers, and learners \u201cdue to the threat of acquiring or passing onto others the virus.\u201d<\/p>\n

Roque guaranteed that the government would not jeopardize the life of students amid the Covid-19 crisis.<\/p>\n

\u201cHinding-hindi po natin ilalagay sa aberya ang ating mga kabataan. Kung kinakailangan pong huwag buksan dahil mataas pa ang mga kaso o nagkaroon ng<\/em>\u00a0second wave,\u00a0eh siguro po magkakaroon ng ganiyang desisyon<\/em>\u00a0(We will never put our youth at risk. If it is necessary to suspend school opening due to high cases or a possible second wave, we will do it),\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), which makes recommendations to President Rodrigo Duterte on the fate of the nationwide community quarantine, is scheduled to meet on Friday.<\/p>\n

He did not mention the IATF-EID\u2019s agenda for its next meeting.<\/p>\n

Roque, nevertheless, ensured that the government would come up with necessary measures, should the task force decide not to impose GCQ in the entire country by August.<\/p>\n

\u201cKung hindi po<\/em>\u00a0(If [imposing nationwide GCQ] is not possible), we will take the appropriate action,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n

Community quarantine has been implemented in all areas nationwide to stop the further transmission of Covid-19.<\/p>\n

Enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the most stringent community quarantine, has been imposed in Cebu and Mandaue cities until May 31.<\/p>\n

Metro Manila Laguna, Bataan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales, and Angeles City have been placed under modified ECQ (MECQ).<\/p>\n

The rest of the areas in the country are under GCQ.<\/p>\n

The IATF-EID has 10 days to decide on the fate of the ECQ, MECQ, and GCQ nationwide, subject to Duterte’s approval.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

MANILA\u00a0\u2013 Malaca\u00f1ang on Thursday floated the possibility that the entire country might be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) by …<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":44,"featured_media":254683,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[1145,16,95],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-255664","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","category-headline","category-news","category-news-ph","mauthors-ruth-abbey-gita-carlos","mauthors-philippine-news-agency"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255664","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/44"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=255664"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255664\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":255665,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/255664\/revisions\/255665"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/254683"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=255664"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=255664"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/canadianinquirer.net\/v1\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=255664"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}