DAVAO CITY (MindaNews) – The local government of Davao may reconsider the lifting of the 9 p.m.-to-4 a.m. curfew and 24/7 liquor ban once local health experts will say that the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) crisis is “quite safe” and manageable that will allow the easing of regulations.
Mayor Sara Duterte said the local government could revisit the local regulations that have been imposed to restrict the movement of people to stem the spread of the infection.
She said the policies on the implementation of curfew and liquor ban, which have been extended until March 31 through Executive Order (EO) 5 issued last January 29, the reimplementation of food and medicine (FM) pass through EO 62 issued on November 13, and the imposition of additional requirements for authorized persons outside residence (APOR) and non-APOR upon entry to the city can be revised through EO 63-b issued last November 23, 2020.
“These are things that within our control that we can revise… if we feel that it is safe, of course, there’s no such thing as safe in pandemic but if we can at least manage it, then we can revise the regulations… we can revise it anytime if our public health experts would say it is okay to relax some of our regulations,” Duterte said.
Amid the rising COVID-19 cases, the city reverted to general community quarantine (GCQ) from modified GCQ on November 20, 2020. The GCQ has been extended until end of February 2021.
She said the local government awaits classification of the city from the COVID-19 Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID). New classification is usually announced by the end of each month.
As of February 8, the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao Region reported 75 new cases, bringing the total cases to 18,297, with 2,579 active, 14,974 recoveries, and 744 deaths in the region.
Out of the total, Davao City, which reported the highest COVID-19 cases in Mindanao, tallied 12,109 cases, with 1,353 active, 10,181 recoveries, and 575 deaths. Davao de Oro reported 1,013 cases, Davao del Norte with 2,617, Davao del Sur with 1,268, Davao Occidental with 211, and Davao Oriental with 1,079. (Antonio L. Colina IV / MindaNews)
