Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Sunday said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) will meet on Tuesday to discuss the next quarantine classification in the National Capital Region and the four nearby provinces.

In a radio interview, Año said the IATF have observed a good trend in the COVID-19 cases in the country.

“Though the (cases) are still increasing, the increase is slowing down… Our trend is good and our reproduction number has decreased,” he said.

“On our next IATF meeting, if I’m not mistaken, is on Tuesday, we will discuss the next classification in NCR Plus and other areas under MECQ (modified enhanced community quarantine),” he added.

Areas under NCR Plus aside from Metro Manila are Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal.

Año said there are criteria to consider in determining if the quarantine status will remain or be adjusted.

He said the healthcare utilization rate is a key criteria.

“We should also decrease the healthcare utilization rate like ICU beds, COVID-19 ward beds and even isolation facilities so that we will not be overwhelmed,” Año said.

“So we are studying our trend in the last two weeks so that we can project if (cases) will increase or not,” he added.

Metro Manila and four nearby provinces, as well as a few other areas in the country, have been placed under MECQ, a more restrictive quarantine classification, from April 12 to April 30.

From March 29 to April 11, these areas were placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) or equivalent to lockdown for two weeks from March 29 to April 11 due to surging cases of COVID-19. Celerina Monte/DMS