The city government has lifted the two-week “hard lockdown” or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) imposed on Barangay 23-C in this city effective noon Monday (July 20).

The lifting of the quarantine that prevented residents from going out of their village—except for emergency purposes—came after the series of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests conducted from July 15 to July 17 for all barangay residents, the city government said in a statement.

It said the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) diagnostic tests found out that of the 58 suspect cases in Barangay 23-C, only two tested positive for the virus.

Mayor Sara said the area, which had been identified as a high-risk area for Covid-19, may now be subjected to a more targeted lockdown, such as “purok” or household quarantine.

It can be recalled that Mayor Sara Z. Duterte ordered the lockdown on Barangay 23-C on July 4 because of the surge of Covid-19 infections in the area.

The village, which has around 18,000 residents, had been suffering from a high daily infection rate, with Mayor Sara describing the situation as “very severe.”

“The doctors had a meeting yesterday and they recommended to lift the hard lockdown but a “purok” (district) or house lockdown will be done in the barangay,” Duterte said in a radio interview on Monday.

“As this good development happened in Barangay 23-C, we are now looking at Barangay-22 C [neighboring barangay] as it became most likely to Barangay 23-C in terms of Covid cases,” she added.

Despite the hard lockdown being lifted, the city government here assured that security and health protocols will continue to be strictly observed in Barangay 23-C, while food and other basic necessities will be provided to the affected residents.

Mayor Sara said barangays that show a massive spread of the virus will similarly be put on a hard lockdown. (PNA)