President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to place the

National Capital Region (NCR) and the provinces of Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal under the less stringent modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting Monday or April 12.

Those areas are collectively known as NCR Plus

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque also announced over state-run PTV that the MECQ over NCR Plus will last until April 30, 2021.

Also, the other areas to be placed under MECQ include Santiago in Quirino province, and Abra province.

“President Rodrigo Duterte approved today the recommendation of the IATF to place those areas under MECQ,” Roque said in Filipino.

He added that one of the reasons for the decision to place Metro Manila and the four provinces under MECQ is the commitment of hospitals to increase beds for Covid-19 patients, especially those in intensive care units.

Roque also announced the following areas will be placed under general community quarantine: Cordillera Administrative Region; Batangas province; Tacloban City; Iligan City; Davao City; Lanao del Sur province; and Quezon province

He added the rest of the country will be placed under modified GCQ.

NCR and Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal provinces was placed under the most stringent ECQ for two weeks until April 11, 2021.