Abet Garcia has asked the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF), which leads the government’s COVID-19 response, to reconsider proposals to ease quarantine measures in the province. In a letter to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, IATF chair, Garcia endorsed several requests to keep Bataan under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) instead of shifting to a less restrictive general community quarantine (GCQ). While the 111 cases might seem minuscule compared to the national figure, which has gone over 11,000 cases, Bataan has a backlog of 559 patients whose test results have yet to be released. Last Tuesday, Duterte approved the IATF proposal to keep high-risk areas under ECQ, put moderate-risk areas such as Bataan under GCQ, and waive strict quarantine measures in low-risk areas. As of Monday, the Department of Health has recorded 11,618 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 772 deaths and 2,251 recoveries.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 13, 2020 15:56 UTC