Manila Casino Closures Extended to June 30

Rodrigo Duterte, the president of the Philippines, has announced another two-week extension of general community quarantine (GCQ) measures in Metro Manila, pushing the closure of casinos and integrated resorts throughout the city into a fourth month.

The decision to extend GCQ was based on recommendations by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and concerns over critical health care capacity.

Duterte has also ordered Cebu City to be escalated back to Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) due to a growing number of new cases in the area.

“The increasing number of new cases and widespread community transmission in [the] majority of barangays in the city, as well as consistent case doubling time of less than seven days and significant increase in critical care utilization against critical care capacity, were the reasons cited why Cebu City reverted back to ECQ,” Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said.