The Philippines could replace regional or province-wide lockdowns with street-level restrictions as early as September, a top Cabinet official said Friday, signaling a shift in the country's virus-containment strategy.
But until President Rodrigo approves the new policy, the current community quarantine classification system will continue to take effect, Interior Sec. Eduardo Año said. Current quarantines are good until Aug. 31.
"Tuloy-tuloy muna itong ating quarantine classification hanggang maaprubahan ng ating Pangulo at tinitingnan natin na sisimulan muna natin ito sa isang particular region tulad ng Metro Manila," he said in an interview on Teleradyo.
Malacañang on Thursday said the shift to granular lockdowns--or those implemented in the street or village level---from large-scale ones has been approved in principle but details have yet to be ironed out.
It could start as early as September according to Año, who cited the need to give local government units ample time to prepare, and to coincide with the proposed extension of the state of calamity in the Philippines due to the pandemic.
“Tinitignan natin ang either petsa ng Sept. 8 or Sept. 13,” he said.
The Philippines implements a four-tier community quarantine system ranging from the strictest enhanced community quarantine or ECQ to the loosest modified general community quarantine or MGCQ.
The government first implemented lockdowns in March last year, starting with the very first "community quarantine" in Metro Manila. In August, the government revived the strictest ECQ in parts of the country as it fights a surge due to the hyper contagious coronavirus Delta variant.