300,000 employees return to work under GCQ with heightened restrictions

Some 300,000 employees have returned to their jobs following the shift back to the general community quarantine (GCQ), albeit with heightened restrictions, the Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) announced Monday.

Trade Undersecretary Ireneo Vizmonte said most of the individuals that have yet to be allowed back to work were in the high-risk sectors.

"Talaga pong dahil dito sa ating pag-iingat, ito po kasing naiwan mga high risk pa, inaasahan natin na 'pag nagluwag na itong general community quarantine para doon sa regular na GCQ ay marami pong muling makakabalik sa trabaho," he said during the Laging Handa briefing.

(Because of safety measures, most of those still prohibited to go back to work are in the high-risk areas. We expect that a lot of employees will return to work once restrictions are eased further to the regular GCQ.)

NCR Plus—Metro Manila, Bulacan, Rizal, Cavite, and Laguna—were placed under GCQ with heightened restrictions starting May 15, 2021.

Under the latest GCQ, only essential travel in and out of the NCR Plus bubble is allowed, while public transportation remains operational.

Restaurants have also been allowed to operate at a higher capacity, along with the reopening of personal care services.

According to the data from the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA), nearly 10 million Filipinos were laid off from March 2020 to March 2021. —NB, GMA News