DAVAO CITY — Davao City and Tagum City went on partial lockdown on Sunday night as the two cities take drastic measures to make sure COVID-19 does not spread.
The partial lockdown was announced in a joint statement by Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon.
They cited President Rodrigo Duterte’s issuance of Presidential Proclamation 922 placing the country in a State of Public Health Emergency in relation to National Security.
They also said there was a need for the action because there are limited testing kits and results take too long to become available.
As of press time, no guidelines have been set for the partial lockdown.
The announcement came on the same day that Mayor Sara issued Executive Order No. 10 on Sunday morning declaring the entire Davao City under community quarantine effective immediately.
She said there is an immediate need to be “aggressive and proactive” on the impending spread of COVID-19 in the city especially since testing kits are limited and results take too long to become available.
EO 10 enumerates the following rules under community quarantine:
1. People should stay in their homes and may only come out to work, buy food or medicines, go to the hospital, or take out garbage.
2. Mass gatherings and classes from kindergarten to post-graduate studies will be suspended until after the state of public emergency has been lifted.
3. All religious activities are suspended.
4. Government work will not be disrupted.
5. Employees from other provinces may enter davao city — but necessary screening procedures must be followed.
6. Private companies must prepare and implement flexible workplan for their employees.
7. Require people to procure services and buy goods online from local suppliers.
8. Require online meetings and bank transactions.
9. Public transportation will be allowed.
10. Cargo deliveries will be allowed.
11. All other activities that may be determined in the future to be applicable in community quarantine.
In a live radio interview on Saturday night, the mayor said based on her talk with health officials, the coronavirus is “already here.”
“It’s just a matter of finding those who are sick,” she said.
In a live radio interview on Sunday afternoon, Sara said the challenge is that it takes at least one week for test results on COVID-19 to come out.
“(That is why) I deemed it necessary to declare community quarantine. We won’t wait for two patients to test positive for COVID in two separate barangays,” she said, referring to the threshold set by the Inter-Agency Task Force on COVID-19.
“I don’t think we should wait before we declare a community quarantine,” she added.
IN DEMAND. A shopper is greeted by an empty aisle of rubbing alcohol at a grocery store in Bajada, Davao City. Despite the mall’s imposition of the two-bottles-of-alcohol-per-customer limit, there is still a shortage of this merchandise and other COVID-19 related essentials such as toilet paper and hand sanitizers. ARJOY M. CENIZA
Possible lockdown
While no guidelines have been given as of press time on the partial lockdown, Mayor Sara discussed in her radio interview what the public can expect in such a scenario.
Reading from a draft EO on the lockdown, Sara gave “a glimpse” of what the city can expect under a lockdown:
* All public and private vehicles from Tagum City are prohibited from entering Davao City. All vehicles from Tagum that will pass through Tagum City while en route to their final destination will be escorted in groups to the final checkpoint where they will exit. This will only be allowed within 24 hours. After 24 hours upon effectivity of the Executive Order, no vehicles, public or private, that comes from Tagum will be allowed to pass through Davao City.
* Inspection of IDs of workers working in Davao City but go home outside of Davao City. Residents of Tagum who are not working in Davao City will not be allowed to enter Davao City.
* Supply chain vehicles and delivery vehicles are allowed entry to Davao City. Driver and helper will be subjected to temperature check. The driver and helper of supply chain vehicles and delivery vehicles are not allowed to leave their vehicles while loading and unloading is being done inside Davao City.
* Military trucks except for TF Tagum vehicles are authorized to pass through and enter Davao City.
* Emergency vehicles are authorized to pass through and enter Davao City.
* Road blocks will be established after 24 hours upon the effectivity of (the lockdown EO).
* Passengers and drivers of exempted vehicles will be subjected to temperature checks before entering Davao City.
The EO was still being finalized as of press time.
CLEANSING. To prevent the spread of viruses, especially COVID-19, a City Health Office (CHO) Tropical Disease Prevention and Control Unit worker disinfects the surroundings of the area where the city’s garbage collection trucks are parked. MANMAN DEJETO / MINDANEWS
Enough funds for tests
Also on Sunday, Malacañang gave assurance that the Office of the President is providing the needed funds of the Department of Health (DOH), Department of Science and Technology (DOST), and UP Manila’s National Institutes of Health in the production of the diagnostic kits for the COVID-19 tests.
In a statement, Presidential Spokesperson and Chief Presidential Legal Counsel Salvador Panelo urged the public to be wary of “false narratives” being circulated on social media that the national government is short of funds to address the national health emergency, thereby creating apprehension and panic among the populace.
“We assure our people that we are prepared to use to the fullest the resources of the government to arrest the spread of the disease and secure the safety and health of the citizenry,” he said.
Panelo said Manila Healthtek, a private research and development company, is prepared to do the production of bigger quantities required to respond to the crisis in addition to its present inventory once the imported raw materials arrive.
He also said the DOST has categorically stated that it is “not in any way involved in the call by some groups for donations regarding access to test kits.”
“Sufficient funds are available,” he said, but for those in the private sector who wish to donate funds, “we suggest they coordinate either with the DOH, PGH (Philippine General Hospital), DSWD (Department of Social Welfare and Development), or the LGUs (local government units) to ensure its rightful receipt and best use.”
March 15, 2020 – Sunday 6:03 PM by
JON JOAQUIN, FUNNY PEARL A. GAJUNERA
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