Two cities in Davao Region ordered a partial lockdown on all entry and exit points that began at 7 p.m. on Sunday (March 15).
In a joint statement, presidential daughter and Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte and Tagum City Mayor Allan Rellon said the order is due to the “immediate need to be aggressive and proactive on the impending spread of 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Davao Region”.
Minutes after the joint order of both local chief executives, the Department of Health in Davao Region (DOH-11) also confirmed on Sunday the first case of 2019 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in Region 11.
The confirmed case, a 21-year old female, arrived in the Philippines from the United Kingdom with layover via Doha, Qatar to Manila then to Davao on February 29.
“We need to lockdown the Lasang checkpoint because there are circumstances between Tagum and Davao that we need to take an action,” Duterte said in a radio interview.
Mayor Sara also specified the following guidelines which will be followed:
• All public and private vehicles from Tagum City are prohibited from entering Davao City
• All vehicles coming from Tagum City that will pass through Davao City while en route to their final destination will be escorted in groups to the border checkpoint where they will exit. This will only be allowed within 24 hours from the effectivity of the EO (a valid ID is required for verification)
• After 24 hours from the effectivity of the EO, no vehicles (public or private) from Tagum City will be allowed to pass thru Davao City anymore
• Inspection of ID’s of workers working in Davao City but go home outside Davao City will be conducted. Residents of Tagum City who are working in Davao City will not be allowed to enter Davao City
• Supply chain/delivery vehicles are allowed entry to Davao City provided the driver and helper will be subjected to temperature checks. They are not allowed to leave their vehicles while loading/unloading is being done inside the city
• Emergency vehicles are authorized to pass thru/enter Davao City
• Roadblocks will be established after 24 hours upon effectivity of the EO
• Passengers and drivers of exempted vehicles will be subjected to temperature checks before entering Davao City.
• Patients needing services in Davao hospital must show proof of medical service they are receiving
• Other essential movements not covered in the listed exemptions may be allowed with clearance from the Task Force Covid-19 Command Center
Earlier, Duterte threatened to impose a lockdown should her fellow local chief executives cannot provide quarantine for their own patient under investigation (PUI).
“I am asking the mayors of other local government units to make your own PUI quarantine in your area. Otherwise, I will close Davao City and you will have no access to hospitals and other essential services,” she added.
Duterte urged the LGUs to prepare a PUI quarantine area that is not a hospital in order to cater to other patients unaffected by Covid-19.
“In Davao City, we used an entire school as a PUI center and our health centers as a triage to save our hospitals. Let us do our thing to make sure that the sacrifice in Metro Manila saves lives in the entire country,” she added. (PNA)
