President Rodrigo Duterte is set to announce Monday night new quarantine classification in Metro Manila and four nearby provinces, which are under a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine, Malacañang said.

In a virtual press briefing, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said Metro Manila mayors and members of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases have a "unanimous" recommendation to the President to go back to general community quarantine after August 18.

"I can confirm that the recommendation of the mayors is GCQ, but it should be a GCQ similar to the month of June which is stricter than the eventual GCQ being implemented now," he said.

He said the IATF listened to the recommendation of the Metro Manila mayors and it has been incorporated in the inter-agency's recommendation to the President.

"The recommendation of the IATF and and the Metro Manila mayors to the President is unanimous," Roque added.

Duterte is set to deliver a televised message on Monday night. But it will take place after his virtual meeting with some IATF members.

"I can assure you, tonight will be the announcement," Roque said.

Duterte is in Davao City.

Some of his Cabinet members were supposed to fly to Davao for the meeting. But since Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año was tested positive for coronavirus disease, other Cabinet members who had close encounter with the DILG chief have decided to isolate themselves.

Roque earlier said the economy could not take it anymore to have another lockdown in Metro Manila and nearby provinces.

Bulacan, Laguna, Cavite and Rizal are the four other provinces, which are also under MECQ, which provides for the restrictions of the movement of the people to prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Duterte has placed Metro Manila and the nearby provinces under MECQ following the call of the medical societies for a "timeout" after months of exhaustion in attending to the COVID-19 cases. Celerina Monte/DMS