BY NOEL TALACAY
THE city government of Muntinlupa has placed more areas under extreme localized community quarantine (ELCQ) for 14 days as the COVID-19 attack rate in communities surged over a one-week period.
Mayor Jaime Fresnedi placed Angelo Street, Horrileno Street, Endencia Street, Paredes Street, and Barrera Street in Katarungan Village in Barangay Poblacion under hard lockdown starting yesterday noon until 12 p.m. of September 2.
The City Health Office has reported that the community’s attack rate jumped to 208.58 per 10,000 population from August 12 to 18, which is almost triple the 73.61 per 10,000 population recorded from August 5 to 11.
The village’s doubling time, or the amount of that it takes for cases to double in numbers, was at four days.
There are now 17 active cases in the Katarungan Village.
Building 17 of the 18-building Filinvest socialized housing complex in Barangay Alabang was also put under hard lockdown starting yesterday evening until 6 p.m. of September 2.
The CHO said the building’s attack rate has surged to 608.69 per 10,000 population, from 437.78 per 10,000 population the previous week. The doubling time in the building was also at four days.
Fresnedi said stay-home protocols will be strictly implemented in the locked down areas, with residents prohibited from going out of their residences, except during medical emergency.
The mayor said residents who were out of their homes when the lockdowns took effect will be allowed to go back to their houses, but will be restricted from going out again.
The city government has also placed under ELCQ the areas of Purok 3 in Molera Compound in Barangay Sucat, Purok 7 in Beatriz Compound, and De Mesa L & B Street in Barangay Alabang from August 6 until August 27.
The city government also locked down Block 8 in Hills View, and Mangga Street in Lakeview Homes in Barangay Putatan from August 12 until August 26, and Chico Street in Barangay Tunasan from August 10 until August 25.
Food packs and other basic necessities are being distributed by the Muntinlupa City Social Service Department to households affected by the hard lockdowns.
Muntinlupa CHO chief Dr. Juancho Bunyi said the alarming rise in COVID-19 cases in Katarungan Village was due to the non-observance of the residence of the minimum public health protocols.
“As we look at it, the residents are not observing minimum public health protocols such as wearing of face mask and face shield while outside of their residences,” Bunyi said.
Bunyi said the Muntinlupa CHO will conduct mass testing in the community, while officials of Barangay Poblacion said it will reinforce vaccination activities in the village. No walk-ins, however, will be allowed.
Residents of Katarungan Village are advised to wait for further notice and text from the barangay for their vaccination schedule.
As of August 18, Muntinlupa City has recorded 17,312 confirmed cases, with 14,872 recoveries, 2,028 active cases, 412 reported deaths, 28 suspected cases, and 2,368 probable cases.
CQs
Presidential spokesman Harry Roque said President Duterte may address the public today to announce the new quarantine classification in Metro Manila and other areas in the country where there are high number of COVID-19 cases.
The National Capital Region and Laguna are under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until today, August 20, while Bataan is on lockdown until August 22 to prevent the further increase of COVID-19 infections, including the highly transmissible Delta variant.
Roque said the Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases was set to discuss the quarantine classifications on Thursday before presenting it to the President for his approval.
Roque said the IATF only has two options to consider — to extend the ECQ or de-escalate it to a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
He reiterated that the impact of the two-week ECQ is not likely to be felt yet nor result in the immediate reduction in COVID-19 cases, as it may still take more weeks after the lockdown was imposed for the number of daily cases to go down.
Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said the government will seriously consider health and economic concerns in deciding whether the ECQ in Metro Manila will be extended or not.
“Our choice is either to retain ECQ for another week or until the end of the month, or downgrade to MECQ so other business establishments can open,” Año said.
Año, a key member of the IATF, said the infection growth rate in Metro Manila is still high and has to be reduced, as he noted that cases are still averaging 3,500 over the past two weeks.
Año also said hospitals in Metro Manila are nearing “critical” level in terms of COVID-19 patients admission.
If the quarantine classification of NCR is downgraded to MECQ, Año said “additional restrictions” will have to be implemented to prevent mass gathering and other violation of health protocols.
CONGRESS
Senate President Vicente Sotto III said the Senate will resume plenary sessions on Monday whether authorities lift or extend the ECQ in Metro Manila “We will indeed resume (sessions) whether ECQ is extended or not. We are very delayed as it is in our legislative agenda,” Sotto said in a message to the media.
Speaker Lord Allan Velasco also announced that the House of Representatives will resume session on Monday even if Malacañang extends the lockdown.
Sotto said once sessions resume, only a limited number of employees and staff members will be allowed to be physically present at the Senate building.
If ECQ is extended beyond Friday, Sotto said he will have to call their sessions earlier than the usual 3 p.m. to give Senate employees and staff members more time to go home before the curfew hours, which is from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m.
In a virtual press conference last Tuesday, Senate majority leader Juan Miguel Zubiri said the Senate cannot afford to suspend its sessions beyond the ECQ period since there are a number of priority measures that need to be passed, including the Retail Trade Liberalization, the Public Services Act, and the bill extending the Bangsamoro Transition Authority, among others.
He said the Senate will also be very busy tackling the proposed national budget for 2022 starting September, and then the filing of candidacies for next year’s elections will follow in October.
On Monday, Velasco said the Department of Budget and Management (DBM) is scheduled to submit to the P5.024-trillion national budget for 2022.
Velasco said the House leadership will continue its present setup in holding plenary sessions, which will be physically attended by several House members while others will participate via online platforms.
In a related development, Velasco condoled with the family of former deputy speaker Pablo P. Garcia of Cebu, the father of Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia. — With Jocelyn Montemayor, Victor Reyes, Raymond Africa and Wendell Vigilia
