THE government is looking at declaring barangay lockdowns instead of declaring community quarantines per region, province, municipality or city, National Task Force of the COVID -19 chief implementer Carlito Galvez Jr. said on Tuesday night.
In his report to President Duterte during the meeting of the Interagency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), Galvez said the move is part of efforts to localize the government’s National Action Plan against the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
The move, he added, will likewise preserve the country’s economic corridor.
Galvez said that instead of closing entire regions, provinces, municipalities or cities, local government units (LGUs) will be allowed to put on lockdown barangays in their jurisdictions with high cases of COVID-19.
“Ang gagawin po natin is iyung barangay na mayroong cases iyon po ang ila-lock down natin para ma-preserve natin po ‘yung ating economic corridor. We have to preserve ‘yung economic corridor po natin (What we will do is to put barangays with positive cases on lockdown so we can preserve our economic corridor),” he said.
Galvez said the interagency task force will issue the guidance to LGUs on the declaration of barangay-level lockdowns.
The President in March placed Metro Manila under enhanced community quarantine which he expanded to a Luzon-wide enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until mid-April. The ECQ was extended until the end of April.
Duterte then approved the easing of the ECQ in some areas to a general community quarantine but ECQ was in effect until May 15 in the National Capital Region, Central Luzon except Aurora, the Calabarzon region, the provinces of Albay, Pangasinan, Iloilo, and Cebu; and the cities of Iloilo, Cebu, Bacolod, Legazpi, Davao and Zamboanga.
Last week, the President placed Cebu and Mandaue under an enhanced community quarantine from May 16 to 31 while Metro Manila and the provinces of Bataan, Bulacan, Nueva Ecija, Pampanga, Zambales, Laguna and city of Angeles were placed under a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
COVID IS HERE TO STAY
President Duterte, during the late night address, urged the public anew to follow minimum health standard regardless of where they live or work.
“Remember this: the loosening of the restriction, iyung pagluwang, ang pagluwang ng gobyerno ng restriction does not mean wala na ang COVID. COVID will remain with us until such time that na-bakunahan tayong lahat (Remember this: the loosening of the restriction, the easing of government restriction does not mean that there is no more COVID. COVID will remain with us until such time that we are all vaccinated),” Duterte said.
Duterte said establishments and industries that resumed operations should also observe health protocols and provide ideal working conditions, including well-ventilated and disinfected rooms.
Before ending his address, he also shared the song “Hihilom ang Sugat” which he said expressed what everyone feels at present amid the pandemic.
The song asked people to try to remain healthy despite the challenge posed by a grave illness and to help save other people as well as to keep an open mind and unite in order to heal.
METRO MANILA
Lt. Gen. Guillermo Eleazar, chief of the Joint Task Force COVID Shield, said the situation in Metro Manila has greatly improved compared to the past few days when people flocked to malls and other establishments when quarantine rules were relaxed
“Nagkaroon naman ng improvement and observance of physical distancing (There’s already improvement and there’s observance of physical distancing),” Eleazar said during the Laging Handa press briefing.
Eleazar, who is the PNP deputy chief for operations, said policemen will continue to monitor the development at the malls and other establishments to sustain the gains that were achieved.
Eleazar reiterated that under MECQ, only workers of essential establishments, people with quarantine passes and others included in the list of Authorized People Outside Residence are allowed to go out from their homes.
“What we are saying is do not let the malls be the ground zero of the next wave of infection so stop unnecessary movements, stop unnecessary travels and trips to malls and other places,” he also said.
Eleazar said the PNP will continue to accost motorists traversing through major thoroughfares like Edsa. He said checkpoints will be retained to deter unauthorized motorists from going out.
Citing results of a random checking conducted by the PNP Highway Patrol Group, Eleazar said two percent of the vehicles that they inspected at the checkpoints were carrying people that were not authorized to go out.
DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said they are going to review the effect of the decision to relax the quarantine rules in Metro Manila and other areas.
“Titingnan natin hanggang May 31 kung ano ‘yung epekto nito. I think so far naman ay we are doing okay (Let’s see until May 31 what is the effect. I think, so far, we are doing okay),” Año said, adding that the relaxed guidelines allowed the government to focus their attention in the “extreme lockdown” of specific areas in Metro Manila, or places with high number of COVID-19 cases.
Meanwhile, Cavite Gov. Jonvic Remulla allowed the reopening of malls in Cavite on Wednesday after they agreed to observe rules which were crafted during a dialogue he held with mall owners on Tuesday.
Remulla ordered the closure of all malls in Cavite on Monday, a few days after they reopened when Cavite transitioned to general community quarantine, due to their failure to observe physical distancing.
The following conditions were imposed:
** Mall hours are limited to 10 a.m. to 5 p.m.
** Malls should cater only to local customers
** Customers should have quarantine pass
** One-hour pass for customers
** Ensure people outside the mall are managed
** Safety marshals should be courteous in dealing with customers in the implementation of the rules
** Limiting the number of customers at supermarkets
** Priority lanes for front liners.
Remulla said mall entrance from the supermarket will be closed, and that anyone who wants to go to and from the mall and supermarket should fall in line again.
As to lifting of liquor ban, Remulla said this depends on the people’s compliance to quarantine rules.
MALLS
Mall operators Robinsons Land Corporation (RLC) and Megaworld Lifestyle Malls reported no issues with shopper behavior during the resumption of operations last May 16 saying they accepted the restrictions and observed physical distancing willingly.
Robinsons senior vice president Arlene Magtibay dismissed as “fake news” pictures on social media showing supposed unruly crowds inside one of their shopping centers.
She explained those were old photos taken of an event held by a local government unit weeks before the government imposed the ECQ and had nothing to do with the reopening of malls during the weekend.
“It was very peaceful, very orderly. Our shoppers were very cooperative, readily showing their quarantine passes for inspection and all were wearing face masks,” she said during the public briefing “Laging Handa.”
Even in supermarkets where there was inevitable crowd build-up, she noted that people stood in line patiently to wait for their turn.
Magtibay said RLC personnel underwent trainings and orientations on crowd management and safety protocols well before the reopening.
Mall tenants, retailers and restaurants were likewise given copies of the “mall reopening guidebook” so as to prepare them and their employees in advance.
Disinfection of shared spaces and cleanup of air vents were completed during the ECQ while visual cues and signage reminding people about the need to observe health protocols were also put up ahead of time.
“We have already computed the maximum carrying capacity of all our malls. This is the new normal and we are trying our best to educate the public on this,” Magtibay added.
Megaworld’s first vice president Graham Coates said the company is happy with shoppers’ response to the reopening even as he admitted that it will take time for the foot traffic to build up.
“Numbers are lower from what we expected but we understand that customers are still a little cautious at this point. We are working hard to make sure that they will have a safe and happy experience when they come to the malls,” he said.
Coates said mall employees encountered no major issues about reminding mall goers to maintain social distancing.
He said Megaworld put up all the required safety mechanisms other than the mandatory wearing of face masks including the reduction of entryways into the mall for easier monitoring and improvement of sanitation facilities in common areas.
Topping it off is the company’s own real time monitoring of customer density by logging each individual entering and registering how many have left at designated exit points.
“We have to accept that this is a very disruptive event. We at Megaworld try to innovate and react in a positive way. As we move forward, we have to embrace the new reality,” he said. — With Victor Reyes and Peter Tabingo
