This is in accordance with Executive Order (EO) 003-2022, which was issued on January 28, adapting the Alert Level 3 classification of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The first day of the “No Movement Sunday” started on January 30.
Essential personnel such as healthcare workers, uniformed personnel, and disaster risk reduction and management council personnel are only allowed to go out to man the borders and transport patients.
Non-essential workers are ordered to stay at home.
The Provincial Government also imposed a 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew.
This is in addition to the latest restrictions imposed in the province.
Governor Claude Bautista on January 21 issued EO 001, imposing stricter measures against unvaccinated individuals by requiring them to present a negative Covid-19 test result and vaccination card.
Prince Paraiso, of the Health Education and Promotion Office of the Provincial Health Office, said in a virtual presser that the reimposition of the said restrictions is the local government’s response to prevent the further increase of Covid-19 cases.
“Nitaas gyud balik atong kaso sa Davao Occidental. Duna na kitay almost 500 nga nagpositibo (Cases in Davao Occidental had increased again. We’re almost at 500 positive cases) for the past two weeks. I think two weeks lang, nitaas gyud ang atong kaso (in just two weeks, our cases increased),” Paraiso said in a PIA virtual presser.
Paraiso said this is also in response to the recent detection of two confirmed cases of Omicron variant among two residents in the province.
He said the first day of the “No Movement Sunday” had been “successful” as the majority of their residents abided by the order to stay at home on that day.
The health official said there is a need to regulate the movement of the people, as the province has no tertiary hospital similar to Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC) in Davao City that would cater to a large volume of severe and critical Covid-19 patients in the event there would be a further surge of cases.
“Dili nato hulaton na ma-overwhelm atong health facilities (We won’t wait that our health facilities would be overwhelmed)” Paraiso said.
He added that this is also in response to the “poor vaccination” rate in the province wherein it has not yet reached 70 percent of its target.
According to the Department of Health data as of January 30, the province has a total of 408 active cases, 30 of them are fresh new cases. Overall confirmed cases are at 4,259, wherein 3,741 have recovered and 303 have died.
