Number of Sampaloc’s hard lockdown violators reaches 109

ANTIVIRUS MEASURE All 192 barangays in the Sampaloc district will be on lockdown for 48 hours to stop the spread of the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19). The area has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the city. —GRIG C. MONTEGRANDE

MANILA, Philippines – The City of Manila has already recorded 109 violators of Sampaloc’s 48-hour hard lockdown since it started on Thursday night, the Manila Public Information Office (MPIO) said.

MPIO said on Friday that 43 of the violators, who dismissed the city government’s strict order to stay at home due to the COVID-19 pandemic, were detained at the Barangay 420 covered court located at Ramon Magsaysay Boulevard corner Lacson Avenue.

Another 36 were rounded up at the Barangay 581 covered court on Manga Street and 30 at the Barangay 463 court along Padre Paredes Street.

Most of the violators were caught near the Gulod Police Community Precinct (38), followed by the precinct at Lacson (35), at Uba (14), near Calabash (11), near España Boulevard (6), and Sibama (5).

Mayor Isko Moreno placed the whole Sampaloc district on a hard lockdown since Thursday night, to stop the local transmission of the disease.  As of Friday, Manila has registered 571 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 780 suspected cases.

The highest concentration of these numbers can be found in Sampaloc, already with 113 coronavirus positive patients and 161 suspected virus carriers.

While the entire district is on a hard lockdown, Manila vowed to conduct aggressive, rapid coronavirus testing for at least 1,000 people.

As of now, the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over Manila and the rest of Luzon are still in place, with President Rodrigo Duterte including the capital region in the ECQ extension until May 15.

The Department of Health said that there are now 7,192 patients infected with the coronavirus nationwide, of which 477 have died and 762 have recovered.  Worldwide, over 2.69 million individuals have been infected, while 190,154 have died from the disease and 733,993 have recovered from it.

JPV