Thursday, March 11, 2021

Metro Manila Mayors Adopt Single Curfew as COVID Cases Spike

metro manila curfew
Barangay 351 Zone 35 in Sta Cruz, Manila is under a four-day lockdown.
PHOTO BY Jerome Ascano

Metro Manila mayors have agreed to synchronize curfew hours, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m., for two weeks starting March 15, to help arrest a surge in coronavirus infections, the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority said on March 11.

Authorities have also locked down some barangays and kept condominiums under tight watch as daily cases have surged to levels not seen since October 2020.

The chairman of the Metropolitan Manila Development Authority, Benhur Abalos, announced the uniform curfew, citing the consensus of Metro Manila mayors during a meeting late Thursday. 

"Ginawa ito para hindi na malito ang tao, para magkaisa na lang," Abalos told reporters.

Earlier on Thursday, the Department of the Interior and Local Government called on mayors of the capital region to implement a uniform curfew policy to make public compliance easier.

Metro Manila Curfew in the Last 300+ Days

Metro Manila is almost a year into the "community quarantine" after restrictions were first imposed on March 15, 2020. Curfew hours on what was just supposed to be a month-long lockdown were from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m.  

On March 17, 2020, all of Luzon was placed under "enhanced community quarantine" with the general rule of "home quarantine," according to Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles. The earlier announced curfew was superseded with everybody being expected to stay home 24/7.

The capital eased into the more lenient "general community quarantine" on June 1 with differing curfew hours per city, either from 8 p.m. or 10 p.m.  to 4 a.m. or 5 a.m. Metro Manila again reverted to "modified enhanced community quarantine" on August 4. By August 19, 2020, Metro Manila mayors decided on a single curfew schedule from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. 

In October 2020, curfew hours were shortened, starting from 12 a.m. to 4 a.m. By December 2020, curfew hours were adjusted to 12 a.m. to 3 a.m. to give way to the Simbang Gabi schedule.

As of March 11, the Philippines has recorded a total of 607,048 confirmed cases of COVID-19 with more or less 3,000 cases added daily since March 5.

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Source: Spot PH

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