ECQ in NCR: Important Restrictions to Take Note Of for August 2021

It's ECQ Season 3.
by Ina Louise Manto | August 03, 2021

As new positive cases arise with the new highly contagious Delta variant, the government has approved to place the National Capital Region, for the third time since March 2020, under the strictest Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) from August 6 to 20, 2021. Here are some ECQ travel restrictions you should know.

What to expect during ECQ in NCR

According to IATF Resolution No. 13-A, the following protocols and restrictions shall be observed as NCR is escalated to Enhanced Community Quarantine from August 6 to 20, 2021:

• Curfew from 8 PM to 4 AM
• All citizens must remain indoors, especially those aged 18 years old below and 65 and above.
• People can only go out for obtaining essential goods and services or for reporting to work in offices and industries allowed under ECQ guidelines
• Public transportation (rail, maritime, and aviation) shall remain operational, under a capacity determined by the Department of Transport
• COVID-19 vaccinations will continue

What about the operations of establishments?

Indoor dine-in services and alfresco dining in NCR restaurants are prohibited. Only take-out and delivery are allowed.

Personal care services such as beauty salons, barbershops, beauty parlors, and nail spas are allowed to operate up to 30% of seating or venue capacity.

Indoor sports courts, venues, and indoor tourist attractions, and specialized markets of the Department of Tourism will not operate. On the other hand, outdoor attractions shall be allowed to operate up to 30% of capacity.

Which gatherings are allowed under ECQ?

Gatherings are generally not allowed under ECQ, including home gatherings with guests outside of people’s immediate household members. Wakes, necrological services, inurnment, and funerals shall be allowed with causes other than COVID-19 and participants limited to immediate family members and religious ministers.

Religious gatherings shall be allowed up to 10% of the venue capacity, provided there won’t be any objection from the LGU where the religious gathering will take place.

Who’s allowed to travel inside and out NCR Plus Area?

Only Authorized Persons Outside their Residents (APORs) are allowed to travel into and out of the NCR Plus Area (National Capital Region, Cavite, Bulacan, Laguna, and Rizal).

Is interzonal travel allowed?

In case you need a refresher, interzonal travel is the movement between provinces, highly urbanized cities, and independent component cities under different community quarantine classifications.

Interzonal travel during the ECQ shall be allowed, which is subject to restrictions of the Local Government Unit of destination.

Point-to-Point travel to areas under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) and Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) shall be allowed without age restrictions. However, those below 18 years old and above 65 are subject to an RT-PCR test-before-travel requirement.

As of writing, the Philippines has recorded over 1.6 million positive COVID-19 cases with 62,615 active cases and 28,093 deaths. Only 8.27% of the 110 million population has been fully vaccinated.