DAVAO CITY — Davao City and Davao del Norte will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of February, Malacañang announced on Friday.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, President Rodrigo Roa Duterte on Friday, Jan. 29, 2021, retained the general community quarantine classification of the National Capital Region (NCR) and Davao City.
In the same statement, Roque said the city of Iligan and the provinces of Davao del Norte, and Lanao del Sur will also be placed under GCQ until February 28.
The rest of the country will remain under the least restrictive modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
“The abovementioned risk-level classifications will take effect starting Monday, Feb. 1, until Feb. 28, 2021,” he said.
The announcement came as the country deals with the new coronavirus variant, otherwise known as the United Kingdom (UK) variant.
Studies have found that the UK variant is more contagious than the original Covid-19 variant but there is no evidence yet that it is deadlier than the previous variant.
“Wala pa pong conclusive na datos na nakukuha kung prevalent na po ang UK variant sa Pilipinas (There is no conclusive data yet showing that the UK variant is already prevalent in the country),” he said over state-run PTV-4.
The government has imposed travel restrictions to more than 30 countries with confirmed cases of the UK variant in a bid to curb its spread in the country.
Roque said all foreign travelers from the countries included in the travel ban list, except those who are exempted, “are still prohibited to enter the country”.
“Those who are allowed still need to complete their 14-day quarantine. The restriction remains until January 31, 2021 and would lapse after the aforesaid date,” he said in a separate statement. (PNA)