Duterte Declares Class Suspensions Until April 12, 30-Day 'Community Quarantine' Amid COVID-19 Code Red Sublevel 2 Alert Level
On March 11, the World Health Organization (WHO) declared COVID-19 as a pandemic—meaning that the disease has now spread worldwide. In a public address on March 12, President Rodrigo Duterte has officially announced that the alert level for COVID-19 has been raised to Code Red Sublevel 2.
Following the announcement, class suspension in all levels in Metro Manila has been extended to April 12, 2020, “provided that all students shall continue to fulfill their educational requirements during said period.” Mass gatherings are also prohibited and a community quarantine is set to be enforced in the entire Metro Manila.
According to the resolution, the following considerations must be made regarding localized community quarantines:
- A barangay-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases belonging to different households in the same barangay
- A municipality/city-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases belonging to different barangays in the same municipality/city
- A province-wide quarantine is advised when there are at least two positive COVID-19 cases belonging to different municipalities, component cities, or independent component cities in the same province
Public transportations like the Light Rail Transits (LRT), Metro Rail Transits (MRT), and the Philippine National Railways (PNR) will continue operations given that the imposed social distancing measure is observed.
Land, domestic air, and domestic sea travel to and from Metro Manila will also be suspended for 30 days, beginning March 15, 2020.
