More areas in Luzon, Mindanao under state of calamity
Following three confirmed cases of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Pampanga has been placed under a state of calamity so that the province can immediately respond to the outbreak.
The provincial board authorized Gov. Dennis Pineda to access the Quick Response Fund for “aid, medicine, relief, rehabilitation, reconstruction, and other work or services to calamity-affected communities.”
Porac town was already placed under a state of calamity on Monday. The second confirmed COVID-19 case in the province was a resident of Barangay Poblacion there.
The municipal council also approved a curfew and community quarantine.
In Angeles City, nonresidents were not allowed to come in as police blocked the road in front of Sacred Heart Hospital.
In Bataan province, Mariveles town was also placed under a state of calamity on Tuesday though it remained free of COVID-19. Bataan has so far recorded one confirmed case of the virus.
Under monitoring
In Isabela province, a curfew running from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m. was imposed on Tuesday, according to Gov. Rodolfo Albano III.
Mayor Josemarie Diaz of the City of Ilagan also declared a community quarantine and curfew from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m.
Dagupan City in Pangasinan was also placed under a state of calamity on Tuesday to allow the local government to provide for the needs of residents during the lockdown.
The province had recorded 9,251 persons under monitoring, or PUM, as of Monday.
Several towns, cities, and provinces in Southern Luzon have already declared a state of calamity in their areas.
The provinces of Cavite, Quezon, Albay, Sorsogon and Catanduanes and the cities of Sorsogon (Sorsogon), Sta. Rosa (Laguna), and Puerto Princesa (Palawan) were also placed under a state of calamity.
Mindanao
Two provinces in Mindanao, which registered the first two confirmed COVID-19 cases, have also been placed under the state of calamity as local officials braced themselves for more possible cases.
Iligan City in Lanao del Sur, where Mindanao’s first virus fatality came from, and Davao de Oro (formerly Compostela Valley), the home province of the second patient, were placed under a state of calamity to allow the local governments to access funds needed to fight the virus.
Davao de Oro Gov. Tyrone Uy said the provincial board had to act fast since the first patient in the Davao region had come from his province. The patient, who was confirmed to be positive for COVID-19 on Sunday, was a 21-year-old woman who came home to Pantukan town in Davao de Oro from the United Kingdom, with stopovers in Doha, Qatar, and Manila.
Iligan Vice Mayor Jemar Vera Cruz said the city council unanimously approved the ordinance in a special session on March 13, the same day the first patient died.
In Mlang town, Cotabato province, local councilors placed their town under a state of calamity to access some P1.1-million funds to deal with the virus.
—Tonette Orejas, Greg Refraccion, Villamor Visaya Jr., Yolanda Sotelo, Maricar Cinco, Delfin T. Mallari Jr., Ma. April Mier-Manjares, Romar Miranda, Rey Anthony Ostria, Samantha Burgos, Divina Suson and Williamor Magbanua
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