The National Capital Region (NCR) will remain under the stricter
modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until Sept. 15,
Malacañang announced on Tuesday.

This developed after members of the Inter-Agency Task Force of the
Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), in its meeting held Tuesday
afternoon, decided to defer the pilot implementation of the general
community quarantine (GCQ) “with Alert Levels System” in the NCR or
Metro Manila.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said the quarantine
classification in Metro Manila would only be downgraded to GCQ once
the country’s metropolis is ready for the pilot implementation of
granular lockdowns.

“Metro Manila’s current risk classification as modified enhanced
community quarantine shall be maintained until September 15, 2021, or
until the pilot GCQ with Alert Level System is implemented, whichever
comes first,” Roque, also acting as IATF-EID spokesperson, said in a
press statement.

Metro Manila was supposed to be under regular GCQ from Sept. 8 to 30
to pave the way for the implementation of localized or granular
lockdowns in the country’s metropolis.

Following the deferment of GCQ implementation in Metro Manila, indoor
and al-fresco dine-in services will remain prohibited, Roque said.

Roque added that personal care services like beauty salons, beauty
parlors, and nail spas are likewise not allowed.

Religious services, Roque said, may be performed through “online video
recording and transmission.”

Roque said necrological services in wakes, inurnment and funerals can
still be attended by immediate family members, so long as the deceased
died of non-Covid-19 causes.

“However, they need to show satisfactory proof of their relationship
with the deceased and have to comply with the minimum public health
standards,” he said.

In a press briefing held earlier Tuesday, Roque said the guidelines on
the implementation of localized lockdowns in Metro Manila have yet to
be finalized.

Roque likewise said the IATF-EID would also consult the local
government units in Metro Manila with regard to the plan to implement
granular lockdowns.