The Metro Manila Council (MMC) on Thursday said National Capital Region will return to general community quarantine (GCQ) after August 18 if the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continues to decrease.

In a TV interview, Parañaque City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said the number of cases in his city decreased after President Rodrigo Duterte reimposed modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

“If the trend continues, most probably we will be under GCQ,” said Olivarez, MMC chairperson.

“Based on our experience in Parañaque, the cases went down. Way back August 4, our active cases reached 876 but yesterday, we have 651,” he said.

Olivarez said the MECQ from August 4 to 18 helped curb the spread of COVID-19 due to restricted movement of people.

OIivarez said Metro Manila mayors will still rely on the data from experts before coming up with a recommendation to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).

“Usually, DOH (Department of Health) will present to NCR (National Capital Region) so that the recommendation is supported by data because it's hard if your base it on gut feel,”Olivarez said.

According to Malacañang, Duterte will announce the quarantine classification of Metro Manila and nearby four provinces of Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal on August 17.

As of August 13, the COVID-19 cases in the Philippines rose to 147,526, with 4,002 new cases. The number of recoveries increased to 70,387 while death toll was at 2,426. Ella Dionisio/DMS