UPDATED: Mayor: ECQ stays until May 15
Davao City will be placed under a modified community quarantine (MCQ) once the extended enhanced lockdown is lifted at 11:59 p.m. on Sunday, April 26.
In an interview with Davao City Disaster Radio on Thursday, Mayor Sara Duterte said that the MCQ will officially start on April 27, on the advice of the epidemiologists and infectious disease specialists.
“It will all be the same except that there will be mass transportation, but less than the regular days and some industries will be allowed to operate subject to limitations,” she said.
The guideline for the new form of quarantine is still being finalized by the city government. However, social distancing will be enforced, particularly on public utility vehicles.
But she said that mass gatherings and religious ceremonies will still be prohibited. Face masks will still be mandatory. The clustering and the food and medicine passes will still be implemented.
She also advised educational institutions to prepare online classes, distance learning, and take home modules until July 31, 2020.
Duterte bared that Cluster 1 (Poblacion A and B and Talomo District) already have 45 individuals who tested positive for COVID-19. Cluster 3 (Buhangin District) has 23; Cluster 2 (Agdao District) has six cases; Cluster 4 (Toril District) has five; Cluster 5 (Calinan, Baguio, Marilog, Tugbok and some barangays of Paquibato) has four cases; and Cluster 6 (Bunawan, some barangays of Paquibato, including Island Garden City of Samal) still has three cases.
She reiterated her reminders to not panic and stay at home to prevent the widespread transmission of the virus.
More cops on hotspot areas
Meanwhile, the Davao Police Regional Office has deployed more policemen on lockdown areas where the infection is high.
Brig. Gen. Filmore Escobal, said on Thursday’s virtual presser that they have deployed an additional platoon to the Davao City Police Office.
“They will be augmented until the period of lockdown in the said puroks,” Escobal said. Four puroks (zones) in two barangays are on lockdown due to the confirmed cases of the coronavirus. Another purok in a Toril barangay was also isolated.
Earlier, the PRO XI has already assigned 100 personnel to the DCPO and 500 others to five other provincial offices.
On contact tracing
Escobal also confirmed that the Philippine National Police is mandated by law to help the Department of Health in contact tracing. The lead unit is the Regional Health Service of the PNP, with the assistance of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group and Regional Intelligence Unit.
“All intelligence infrastructures of the PNP, with the assistance of the NICA (National Intelligence Coordinating Agency) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines are involved in the contact tracing. Everything is done to prevent the spread of the virus,” Escobal said.
In the same vein, they provide security support to the Department of Social Welfare and Development on the distribution of subsidies under the Social Amelioration Program and the Kadiwa on Wheels by the Department of Agriculture.
“We secure and ensure that physical distance is followed by the people,” Escobal said. (With Rhoda Grace B. Saron)
