Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr on Tuesday, March 23, reiterated that the current additional restriction measures that include the placing of the National Capital Region (NCR) and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal inside a bubble is not a form of lockdown.

The additional restriction measures that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) recommended and were approved by President Rodrigo Roa Duterte to address the rise in COVID-19 cases aim to reduce the number of new cases reported daily by as much as 25 percent after the two-week implementation period, which started today, March 22, 2021.

There will be no lockdown, instead, additional measures would be put in place to address the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the National Capital Region and its neighboring provinces. This was the announcement made by Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr on Sunday, March 21.

Presidential Spokesperson and Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr announced the IATF decision to reduce the venue capacity for some activities and industries, and to suspend the operations of industries that were previously opened or allowed to operate.

Presidential Spokesperson Secretary Harry Roque Jr and his resource persons at today’s (March 18) press briefing — Department of Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega and infectious disease specialist Dr. Edsel Salvana, all agreed that the current spike in COVID-19 cases has impacted the healthcare utilization, particularly in Metro Manila, but the government can respond to the situation.

The National Task Force Against COVID-19 (NTF) on Tuesday, March 16, 2021, released a memorandum circular, which temporarily suspends travel into the Philippines of foreigners and returning overseas Filipinos who are considered as non-overseas Filipino workers beginning Saturday, March 20, 2021, 12:01AM until April 19, 2021. This is in view of the rising COVID-19 cases and the entry of the coronavirus variants in the country.

In President Rodrigo Roa Duterte’s regular weekly Talk-to-the People Address, the Chief Executive reiterated his desire to have all indigents, including informal settlers and the urban poor to be vaccinated as soon as possible to protect them from getting COVID-19.

With the number of COVID-19 cases rising, the Palace assures that there is still sufficient healthcare capacity to manage patients who will get the severe form of the disease.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) has approved the recommendations of the Department of Health (DOH) on the enforcement and implementation of the minimum public health standards (MPHS) in view of the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases.

In light of the recent surge in the number of COVID-19 cases in the country and the presence of new coronavirus variants, the Palace assured that the national government continues to implement intensified responses to the COVID-19 pandemic using the Prevent-Detect-Isolate-Treat-Reintegrate (PDITR) strategy, including localized responses from local government units (LGUs).