What Does General Community Quarantine Mean?

(SPOT.ph) Except for Metro Manila and other parts of the country, the enhanced community quarantine will be lifted after April 30. In spite of this, a general community quarantine will still be in place for some provinces. This was based on a recommendation by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases or IATF and approved by President Rodrigo Duterte, as announced by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in a televised briefing aired in the morning of April 24.

These places, which are either moderate- or low-risk in the spread of COVID-19, are under general community quarantine from May 1 to May 15:

Moderate-risk areas:

• Abra
• Ilocos Norte
• La Union
• Cagayan
• Isabela
• Nueva Vizcaya
• Marinduque
• Palawan
• Camarines Sur
• Negros Occidental
• Negros Oriental
• Siquijor
• Samar/Western Samar
• Zamboanga Del Sur
• Lanao del Norte
• Misamis Occidental
• Misamis Oriental
• Davao del Sur
• Davao Oriental
• Cotabato/North Cotabato
• South Cotabato
• Sultan Kudarat
• Lanao del Sur
• Maguindanao

Low-risk areas:

• Apayao
• Ifugao
• Kalinga
• Mountain Province
• Ilocos Sur
• Batanes
• Quirino
• Aurora
• Romblon
• Camarines Norte
• Sorsogon
• Masbate
• Guimaras
• Bohol
• Biliran
• Eastern Samar
• Leyte
• Northern Samar
• Southern Leyte
• Zamboanga del Norte
• Zamboanga Sibugay
• Bukidnon
• Camiguin
• Davao Occidental
• Sarangani
• Agusan del Norte
• Agusan del Sur
• Dinagat Islands
• Surigao del Norte
• Surigao del Sur
• Basilan
• Sulu

With the general community quarantine imposed in these provinces, the following measures are to be observed:

Who will have to stay home?

• Those who are 20 years and below, and those 60 years old and above are advised to stay home
• Those with health risks are also advised not to go out
• Non-workers should follow curfew imposed by local government units
• Major gatherings including religious conferences are not allowed

Will public transportation be operational?

• Ports and airports are open only for transport of goods
• Public transportation may resume partial operations at reduced capacity

Will there be classes?

• Higher education institutions may continue their classes
• All other schools must remain closed until September 2020

Will businesses reopen?

• Employees may go back to work, but in phases
• Businesses in financial services, BPO, non-leisure whole sale and trade, and other non-leisure services should consider 50% on-site work and 50% work-from-home
• Agriculture, fisheries, and forestry sectors may resume full operations
• Reopening of food manufacturing and all supply chains, including ink, packaging and raw materials, supermarkets, hospitals, logistics, water, energy, Internet, telecommunications, and media
• Manufacturing, electronics and exports, e-commerce and delivery for both essential and non-essential items, repair and maintenance services, and housing and office services may resume with either partial or full operations
• Services involved in leisure, amusement, gaming and fitness, tourism may not reopen
• Malls and shopping centers may partially open, but only for non-leisure stores
• Restaurants may reopen, but only for take-out and delivery
• Only priority and essential construction projects may resume