SIX barangays in Antipolo City will be locked down for seven days starting today because of the rising number of positive cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the covered areas.
Barangays to be under a weeklong, strict stay-at-home regulation are sitio Upper Ruhat 3A, barangay Mambugan; 1st street sitio Oreta, barangay San Isidro; sitio Kamandag 3, barangays Bagong Nayon and Mayamot; Zapanta compound in barangay San Roque, and sitio Tubigan, barangay Dalig.
The local health unit in Antipolo City showed that the city has so far logged 581 confirmed cases of COVID-19, 224 active cases, 48 death, 321 suspected and 309 recovered.
The lockdown was approved by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), according to Mayor Andeng Revilla.
While on lockdown, no resident will be allowed to leave their homes unless they are frontliners or have medical emergencies to attend to.
Only one person per family will be permitted to go out to buy food, medicine, and other essentials. Curfew will be implemented, and store hours will be allowed to open only at specific hours.
Ynares said the city government will conduct off-site COVID-19 testing to determine community transmission of the disease.
Meanwhile, the Muntinlupa City government temporarily closed its Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (DRRMO) Rescue Unit after three of its personnel got infected with the coronavirus.
City public information officer Tez Navarro said emergency medical services under the Muntinlupa Rescue Unit will also be suspended until further notice.
Navarro said 26 personnel of the Muntinlupa Rescue Unit have contracted the virus and are now under quarantine and scheduled for swabbing this week.
While closed, facilities of the emergency medical services, including ambulances and equipment, will be disinfected.
Navarro advised residents to contact their respective barangays if they will need ambulances so they can directly contact the Barangay Emergency Response Teams (B.E.R.T) for emergency and transportation services.
To date, Muntinlupa City has 1,062 confirmed cases with 467 recoveries, 525 active cases, 70 deaths, 642 probable cases, and 555 suspect cases.
The Government Service Insurance System (GSIS) likewise announced on Sunday that its head office in Pasay City and its branch office in Quezon City will be closed from Monday to Wednesday this week after several of its personnel tested positive for COVID-19.
“We need to temporarily close GSIS to the public to ensure the health and safety of our visiting clients and employees. We are now thoroughly disinfecting the two offices as well as conducting contact tracing and monitoring of employees who tested positive for the virus,” GSIS President and General Manager Rolando Ledesma Macasaet said.
“Despite the closure, our employees will continue to work remotely under alternative work arrangements. Our members, pensioners and other clients may transact with us through our online facilities for loans and claims by emailing the required documents to the designated email addresses published in our website. Pensioners may also submit the requirements for the Annual Pensioners Revalidation (APIR) via email. We will interview them through Viber, FB messenger, Skype or Zoom after we have received their requirements,” Macasaet said.
“We may be reached through our Contact Center (8-847-4747) and Facebook page (@gsis.ph),” Macasaet added.
The Bureau of Immigration said its main office building in Intramuros, Manila will be closed today, Monday, and Tuesday to pave the way for disinfection after three of its employees recently tested positive for COVID-19.
Immigration Commissioner Jaime Morente said disinfecting the main building is necessary not only for the safety of their personnel but also the transacting public.
“During the two-day suspension of operations, all BI employees at the main office will be required to undergo rapid antibody tests and those with positive results will be subjected to confirmatory swab test for the virus,” Morente said in a statement.
Morente said all BI officials and employees at the main office undergo rapid testing every month.
“Given the high number of people who trooped to our main building everyday to transact business, we have to take all precautionary measures to prevent the transmission of this virus in our office premises,” he added.
Periodic disinfection of the offices will also be conducted, he said.
BI Port Operations Division Chief Grifton Medina said immigration personnel deployed to the Ninoy Aquino International Airport (NAIA) will undergo another round of rapid antibody test early next month. — With Noel Talacay and Ashzel Hachero
