MANILA, Philippines — Most residents of Manila want the capital city to be placed under lockdown as cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) continue to rise there, Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said Wednesday.
Moreno revealed this sentiment of his constituents a day after he announced that Sampaloc will be placed under hard lockdown due to the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the district.
He added that Tondo, San Andres, and other “areas of concern” might also be placed under hard lockdown.
“In fact ang general atmosphere sa Maynila ay talagang gusto na nila, once and for all, shutdown ang Maynila (The general atmosphere in Manila is to place the city once and for all under shutdown),” he said in an interview with dzMM.
Moreno, however, said that the local government is considering a lot of factors in possibly enforcing the lockdown in the entire city, especially since Manila is a major trade hub for food supply.
“Whether galing sa probinsya or pabrika sa amin babagsak. Ang bigas at mga imported products ay sa amin din babagsak. So these are the things that we have to consider,” he explained.
(Products coming to provinces and factories are being delivered here. Even rice and imported products are being transported here. So these are the things that we have to consider.)
The lockdown in Sampaloc will begin from 8 p.m. of Thursday, April 23, to 8 p.m. of Sunday, April 25, or a period of 48 hours. Moreno said this period may even be extended.
He said residents in other places in Manila are also requesting that their areas be placed under hard lockdown to prevent the further spread of the virus.
As of 5 p.m. Tuesday, the country’s capital city has already recorded 492 confirmed cases of COVID-19, including 53 deaths and 62 recoveries. Another 655 are considered COVID-19 “suspects” and one is tagged as a “probable” case.