Luzon now under ‘enhanced community quarantine’ – Palace

MANILA, Philippines — President Rodrigo Duterte has placed the entire island of Luzon under “enhanced community quarantine” as COVID-19 cases continue to increase in the country.

“PRRD just announced an enhanced community quarantine in the entire Luzon,” presidential spokesperson Salvador Panelo said in a message to reporters on Monday.

Under an enhanced community quarantine, “strict home quarantine shall be implemented in all households; transportation shall be suspended; provision for food and essential services shall be regulated; and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures will be implemented.”

This is according to the guidelines earlier issued by Malacañang on the community quarantine imposed in the entire Metro Manila.

The enhanced community quarantine in Luzon “is effective immediately,” Panelo said in an interview over CNN Philippines.

“Ang exception doon, iyong mga frontline health workers, iyong mga authorized government officials, exempted din iyong mga for medical reasons and humanitarian reasons, also the transport of basic necessities,” Panelo further explained.

Panelo likewise said banking operations will be restricted to automated teller machines (ATMs), while supermarkets and groceries would remain open.

Local government units (LGUs), meanwhile, would deliver basic goods to the public, according to Panelo

“The LGUs, with respect to food and essential needs, will be delivered by them. So ibig sabihin, I think they will have a system wherein lahat ng mga mayors, lahat ng mga barangays alam nila ‘yung mga residents nila,” Panelo explained.

(The LGUs, with respect to food and essential needs, will be delivered by them. This means they will have a system wherein all the mayors and the villages know all their residents.)

“Malalaman nila kung sino ang nangangailangan ng ganitong items. At pag nalaman na nila ‘yan, syempre, may listahan, sila ang bibili, para ‘yung distribusyon ay pantay-pantay.”

(They will know who will need certain items. And when they find that out, of course, they have a list, they will buy, so the distribution will be fair.)

The President earlier put Metro Manila under community quarantine, suspending land, domestic air, and domestic sea travel to and from Metro Manila from March 15, 2020, until April 14, 2020.

To date, the Philippines has 140 people infected with COVID-19, including 12 deaths.

Duterte has previously declared a state of public health emergency throughout the country due to rising transmission 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.

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.

The World Health Organization has declared COVID-19 a pandemic since it has already infected more than 160,000 people and killed over 6,000 all over the world.

KGA