Davao region extends community quarantine until April 26

Armored personnel carriers and backhoes were deployed as road barriers in Davao City on Thursday to further restrict the movement of people. The Davao region’s leaders have decided to extend quarantine measures up to April 30 to further contain the new coronavirus. INQUIRER Mindanao photo / KARLOS MANLUPIG

DAVAO CITY — As the number of cases of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection in the Davao region continues to climb, local leaders agreed to extend by another week the imposition of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) measures.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte, chair of the regional inter-agency task force on emerging infectious diseases, said she, along with governors of Davao del Sur, Davao del Norte, Davao de Oro, Davao Occidental and Davao Oriental provinces agreed on the extension.

The stricter quarantine measures were enforced throughout the region starting on April 4 and was originally scheduled to be lifted on April 19.

The extension until April 26, according to Duterte, was upon the advise of health officials.

“There is a need to extend our ECQ in the entire Davao region,” Duterte said.

With that, Duterte added, all non-essential inbound sea, land and air travels, except for vital cargo and emergencies, are still prohibited in the region.

The mayor explained that while the increases now are not dramatic, there is still a consistent trend of new confirmed cases in the region especially in Davao City.

The number of cases in the region first surged from only eight on March 28 to 24 on March 29, and has since climb steeply.

As of April 16, the Department of Health has counted 98 cases, 80 of which are in Davao City.

Duterte said that there was a discussion for other provinces to also extend their ECQ even if there are no severe cases in their areas.

“We observed that if we work together as a region there are significant effects on the figures,” Duterte notes.

She added that the period of extension is half the 14-day incubation time of the virus, and such window would be utilized to further contain the local transmission in the region.

She further said that the region’s leaders would be closely monitoring the trend in the cases so they can decide what best to do after April 26.

Edited by JPV