GOVERNMENT yesterday kicked off the pilot test of a new lockdown system in Metro Manila, with the Quezon City government placing under special concern lockdown facilities of two religious institutions, which had an outbreak of COVID-19 among staff members, including nuns.
PNP chief Gen. Guillermo Eleazar said the first day implementation of the new scheme was peaceful and had no major problems.
NCR was placed under Alert Level 4 from September 16 until 30 as the government pilot tests the new alert level system. Under this level, some restrictions will be limited to certain activities or sectors where the 3Cs (closed, crowded, close contact) will apply.
Intrazonal travel within the NCR will not be restricted, except in areas under granular lockdown. Only Authorized Persons Outside of Residence (APORs) with essential reasons for travel, such as for work or medical emergencies, will be allowed to leave the NCR.
Eleazar said: “Based on the reports of our commanders, particularly here in Metro Manila, it is generally peaceful, we have no problems.”
Data from the PNP Command Center show that 57 areas in the region have been placed under granular lockdown as of yesterday.
The PNP data indicated that nine areas in two cities in the northern district are under localized lockdown, nine in the eastern district, three in the southern district and 36 in the Quezon City district.
In Quezon City, the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (CESU) placed the premises of the Religious of the Virgin Mary (RVM) under special concern lockdown after 64 nuns and 50 staff members tested positive of the virus.
CESU chief Dr. Rolando Cruz the staff members are fully vaccinated while the nuns are yet to be inoculated because they had their schedule cancelled.
Cruz said city health officials became aware of the infections after a testing laboratory reported the cases.
“We (QC government) were not the ones who swabbed them. They had themselves tested by others and when the laboratory result came out, this was recorded in our surveillance data,” said Cruz.
Cruz said CESU is now conducting “investigation and intensive contract tracing.” He said the investigation will determine, among others, if those infected had been in close contact with anyone outside their facility.
The QC government likewise reported that 22 of 90 staff members of the Convent of the Holy Spirit along Poinsettia Road also tested positive for the virus.
“Investigations are still being carried out. The convent had likewise been declared a special concern lockdown,” it also said.
City Mayor Joy Belmonte has directed CESU to make an inventory of all closed-setting facilities in the city, including convents, nursing homes, and homes for the aged and rehabilitation centers.
Eleazar said police forces who were previously assigned to do random checks in quarantine control points have been re-focused in areas under granular lockdown and in industries/sectors that are allowed to operate where many people tend to congregate, to ensure that minimum public health standards are strictly enforced.
President Duterte, in his Talk to the People address, again emphasized the importance of following minimum health protocols such as the wearing of face shields.
The President said wearing face shields provide some added protection despite the inconvenience that it may cause.
“Ano ba naman iyang inconvenience (compared) to getting sick and probably dying (what is the inconvenience if compared to getting sick and probably dying),” said Duterte who, however, was not wearing a face shield during his meeting with his Cabinet members.
He also refrained from wearing his mask and sometimes asked his appointees who reported to him to remove their mask so that their voices could be heard and would not be muffled.
“This face shield will provide an added premium of prevention. It might not really be a big percentage, but even if it’s just five percent more protected because you have the shield, that is better,” he said in mixed English and Filipino.
The PNP said 327,651 violators were during from August 21 to September 15 when the NCR was under modified enhanced community quarantine.
Of the violators 224,626 were apprehended for violations of minimum public health standards like the wearing of face mask, face shield and observance of physical distancing.
The PNP said 87,729 were accosted for curfew violation and 15,296 were apprehended for going out of their residence when they are not members of the APORs.
There were 9,583 individuals apprehended for MPHS violation, 3,555 for curfew violation, and 106 non -APORs on Wednesday, the last day of the implementation of the MECQ in NCR. Of the more than 300,000 violators caught, 192,955 were merely warned and sent home, 116,516 were fined while 18,180 were brought to the police station for filing of charges. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
