Pursuant to the Memorandum from the Executive Secretary issued on 16 March 2020, the following are guidelines for employers and businesses affected by the enhanced community quarantine:

• Mass gatherings shall be prohibited;

• A strict home quarantine shall be observed in all households; movement shall be limited to accessing basic necessities; provision for food and essential health services shall be regulated; and there will be heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures;

• Only those private establishments providing basic necessities and such activities related to food and medicine production, i.e., public markets, supermarkets, groceries, convenience stores, hospitals, medical clinics, pharmacies and drug stores, food preparation and delivery services, water-refilling stations, manufacturing and processing plants of basic food products and medicines, banks, money transfer services, power, energy, water and telecommunications supplies and facilities, shall be open;

• In all such open establishments, their respective managements shall ensure the adoption of a strict skeletal workforce² to support operations, as well as all strict social distancing measures;

• Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) establishments and export-oriented industries shall remain operational, subject to the condition that strict social distancing measures are observed, their respective personnel are provided appropriate temporary accommodation arrangements by 18 March 2020, and that a skeletal workforce shall be implemented;

• Media personnel shall be allowed to travel within the quarantine area, provided that, within seventy-two (72) hours from the effectivity of the Enhanced Community Quarantine, media personal intending to travel within the quarantine area shall secure an identification card from the Presidential Communications Operations Office;

• For purposes of the foregoing, transit to and from the above establishments anywhere within the area covered by the Enhanced Community Quarantine shall be allowed. Security personnel of the establishments within the quarantine area are likewise allowed to travel therein; and

• The movement of cargoes within, to and from the entire Luzon shall be unhampered. For this purpose, guidelines for the accompanying crew or personnel of transiting cargoes shall be formulated by the Department of Transportation.

[1] Official Gazette. (2020, March 16). Memorandum from the Executive Secretary Salvador C. Medialdea on Community Quarantine Over the Entire Luzon and Further Guidelines for the Management of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) Situation. Retrieved March 17, 2020 from Official Gazette: https://www.officialgazette.gov.ph/2020/03/16/memorandum-from-the-executive-secretary-on-community-quarantine-over-the-entire-luzon-and-further-guidelines-for-the-management-of-the-coronavirus-disease-2019-covid-19-situation/

[2] Skeletal workforce, also known as skeleton-staff, is the minimum number of employees needed to operate a business, as determined by management, during vacation, weekend, or other instances such as natural calamity, public health emergency, etc.