MANILA, Philippines — Localized lockdown will be implemented if the alert level hoisted for the 2019 coronavirus disease was raised to Code Red Sub-Level 2, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Tuesday.
“Dumadating tayo sa punto ng lockdown if [the country] is already under Sub Level 2 (Lockdown will be imposed if the country is already under Sub Level 2),” Health Assistant Secretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in a press briefing on Tuesday when asked when will a specific location be placed under lockdown.
The country is currently placed under Code Red Sub-Level 1 after it recorded the first local transmission from the wife of the 62-year-old Filipino male from Cainta, Rizal, who is the fifth positive case of coronavirus disease.
Vergeire defined local lockdown as isolating one part of a big area specifically isolating a city from a region.
Under lockdown, Vergeire said people are not allowed to go in and out of their area.
‘Miscommunication’
Vergeire said companies should not implement a lockdown after their employee tested positive for the COVID-19.
“I think this is a miscommunication, yung kumpanya na may positibong pasyente, isasara ang kumpanya, na hindi naman dapat,” she said when asked her opinion about firms having a lockdown after their workers got infected.
(I think this is a miscommunication, the company that has an infected patient should not close.)
She appealed to firms to call the health department for guidelines in case one of their employees is positive for the disease.
An employee of consultancy firm Deloitte Philippines in Taguig City was infected by the coronavirus disease. DOH later revealed that it was the 48-year-old lawyer who had a travel history to Japan.