SAN PEDRO CITY — The tourist city of Tagaytay in Cavite province was placed under a community quarantine on Monday as a preventive measure against the “entry and spread” of COVID-19.
City mayor Agnes Tolentino’s order came following a memorandum to business establishments and events places to “postpone or cancel mass events” from March 22 to June 30.
With more defined guidelines, the city orders residents to “stay home” except when they need to report to work, buy food and medical supplies, or seek medical consultations.
Social distancing will also be strictly observed while mass gatherings, whether civic or religious, were prohibited.
The city government office will remain operational on skeleton staff – the minimum number of employees needed to operate.
Villages step up
So far, Cavite has recorded four confirmed cases of COVID-19, a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus or SARS-CoV-2, which outbreak started in China’s Wuhan City in Hubei province in late 2019.
One of the persons found positive for the illness is a resident of Silang town that is adjacent to Tagaytay City.
In Laguna, villages step up community quarantines even without cases of infection.
In Barangay San Antonio, here, the village imposed an 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew on residents, among other precautions set by the national agencies.
In Los Baños town, the village of Tadlac was also placed under a community quarantine.
Laguna province has so far confirmed one case of COVID-19 in Sta. Rosa City.
The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic since it has infected more than 150,000 people and killed over 6,000 all over the world. To date, the Philippines has 140 people infected with COVID-19, including 12 deaths.
President Rodrigo Duterte has declared a state of public health emergency throughout the country and placed the entire Metro Manila under “community quarantine” from March 15 to April 14, 2020, due to COVID-19.
People who have COVID-19 could recover since for most people, its symptoms were mild like fever and cough. But the illness could also be worse or serious for others and possibly lead to pneumonia, especially for older adults and those with existing health problems.