MANILA, Philippines – The entire Zone 4 of this city, which includes Barangays 48 to 55, has been placed on lockdown, Manila’s Public Information Office (MPIO) said on Wednesday.
According to MPIO chief Julius Leonen, the barangays were put on lockdown to avoid the spread of COVID-19, as cases continue to pile up in the country.
Zone 4 is located at the heart of Manila’s Divisoria shopping district in Tondo, near Dagupan Avenue Extension up to the corner of Tayuman Avenue.
“As per Manila Barangay Bureau information office, all barangays under Zone 4 are under ‘lockdown’ as a preventive measure against COVID-19. In other words, people from other barangays are no longer allowed to enter that zone,” Leonen, speaking partly in Filipino, told reporters.
However, he also clarified that residents of the area might still go out of their homes, but only one representative per household would be allowed to do the chores, like buying groceries, medicines, and other necessities for them.
He also noted that the lockdown was placed to avoid people from other zones from coming to the locked zone, to minimize the spread of the virus.
“They say there are a lot of people loitering in their areas, contrary to the order of the national government that there should strict home quarantine,” Leonen noted.
MPIO also relayed the message from Barangay Bureau officer-in-charge Romeo Bagay, saying that barangay chiefs are required to collate information about a household’s official representative.
According to Leonen, people in a barangay under lockdown are only restricted in movement.
“You’re not allowed to loiter in that zone if you’re not from there,” Leonen said.
The government, he noted, would issue passes specifying the barangay where the holder belongs.
Last Sunday, Manila was placed under an 8-p.m.-to-5-a.m. curfew, a day before President Rodrigo Duterte restricted movement outside for people except those working in the frontline services, like healthcare workers and service crews.
READ: Manila City imposes 8 pm to 5 am curfew
Duterte placed the whole of Luzon under an enhanced community quarantine after COVID-19 cases rose quickly.
As of Wednesday, the Department of Health had confirmed 202 COVID-19 cases in the Philippines, 17 of whom had died.
Seven patients have recovered, while there are six patients who were allowed to go on home quarantine.
READ: 15 new COVID-19 cases bring total to 202
READ: Luzon now under ‘enhanced community quarantine’ – Palace
COVID-19 is a respiratory disease caused by the novel coronavirus that first emerged in Wuhan City in China’s Hubei province in late 2019.
The International Committee on Taxonomy of Viruses named the novel coronavirus as SARS-CoV-2.
Coronavirus is a family of viruses with surfaces having a crown-like appearance. The viruses are named for the spikes on their surfaces.
Worldwide, over 193,000 COVID-19 cases have been recorded, 7,865 of which have died and 81,743 patients ave recovered.
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