Mayor Sara Duterte has cautioned Davaoeños against expecting more relaxed restrictions under the general community quarantine (GCQ), which is expected to take effect on May 16.
During the interview with Davao City Disaster Radio on Monday, she said there is not much difference between GCQ and the present enhanced community quarantine. Both measures are imposed to limit movements as much as possible.
“If you can see in the guidelines, it’s still going to be limited. Maybe some people are already preparing to throw a party when we return to GCQ,” she said, referring to the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) of the national government.
Section 3, No.2 of the IATF Omnibus Guidelines states “Under the GCQ, movement of all persons shall be limited to accessing essential goods and services, and for work in the offices or industries permitted to operate. Movement for leisure purposes is not allowed.”
“For the advance information of everyone, please read the IATF omnibus guidelines, because we will adopt most of these once we are already allowed by the national government to return to GCQ,” she added.
One of the changes would be the return of public transportation and the resumption of operations of some non-essential businesses. However, strict social distancing will still be imposed, as well as the wearing of face masks in public. The curfew, cluster system, food and medicine pass, and liquor ban will likely remain.
As of May 4, the Department of Health in the region reported 125 cases in Davao City, with 68 recoveries and 19 deaths. The latest patient who recovered from COVID-19 was a 28-year-old woman from Buhangin who had a history of exposure with a confirmed case. She was admitted on April 13 and released on May 4.
