Before Manila-area casinos have any hope of reopening, and definitely before they have a hope of returning to strong revenues, the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) likely has to come to an end. Nobody knows exactly when that day is going to come, but new comments from the President’s office suggest it may be even further off than anyone could have guessed.

Rather than loosening restrictions, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque told CNN Philippines’s Pinky Webb that it’s a distinct possibility that, if the Philippines should reach 85,000 confirmed cases of Covid-19 by the end of the month, Manila will reenter Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ):

“That’s a distinct possibility, although it’s a possibility that I wish would not happen because we all know that while we have to contain the disease, we also need to re-start our livelihoods ‘no.”

[youtube https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=e4i3-CI-bhA?start=839&feature=oembed]