The working group recommends a prolonged blockade in Albay, Zamboanga City – Roque

MANILA – The Inter-Agency Working Group for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) recommended the extension of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the province of Albay and the city of Zamboanga, said presidential spokesman Harry Roque.

“The IATF report on Albay and Zamboanga’s probinsiya is part of the ECQ,” he said during a public briefing by Laging Handa.

(The IATF has recommended that the province of Albay and the city of Zamboanga remain under ECQ.)

The task force’s recommendation to continue stringent closure measures in both areas was sent to President Rodrigo Duterte for approval, Roque said.

This was after the ECQ spread only in Metro Manila and 8 other areas until May 15, as studies showed these locations were at high risk for a coronavirus outbreak.

The rest of the country, including the province of Albay and the city of Zamboanga, was quarantined by the general community, with more flexible blockade restrictions.

Previously, local officials in the two areas requested continued enforcement of the strict blockade there as cases of the 2019 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) were still reported.

Of the 39 cases in Bicol, 12 are from the city of Legazpi in Albay, the highest of any city in the region, as of Friday.

Local Zamboanga city officials decided to continue applying the ECQ in the city until May 15, with a total of 11 cases reported as of Friday.

But the IATF still needs to approve the movements of local officials to impose, extend or raise the ECQ guidelines.