MANILA, Philippines — The Parañaque City government has placed 10 streets in Barangay (village) Baclaran under a “calibrated lockdown” for three days to conduct isolation and mass testing for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
“Immediate intervention for mass testing, isolation, and quarantine is of an urgent need to avert the possibility of increasing into a widespread magnitude in Barangay Baclaran,” City Mayor Edwin Olivarez said in a statement on Wednesday.
The lockdown will start on Thursday, May 21 at 6 a.m. until Saturday, May 23 at 6 a.m. Baclaran was placed under lockdown after an increase in COVID-19 cases was seen.
Affected by the lockdown are the streets in Area Zone 4. These include Bagong Sikat, Bagong Lipunan, Bagong Pag-asa, Bagong Ilog, E. Rodriguez, Bagong Buhay, Bagong Silang, Dimasalang Extension, Mabuhay, and 12 de Junio.
Olivarez said the lockdown is “calibrated” as it only concentrates on particular streets and sitios inside the barangay.
During the lockdown, Olivarez said the city health department will disinfect all the streets for the entire day on Friday.
Quarantine passes will also be suspended during the lockdown to prevent residents from going outside of their homes.
Olivarez assures that the city government will distribute relief goods and other assistance to help the affected residents for the duration of the lockdown.
Banks, stores, gasoline stations, money remittance centers and markets in Baclaran will also temporarily be closed, Olivarez said.
Records from the city health office on May 15 showed that Baclaran has 49 COVID-19 cases which is among the villages with the highest number of cases in the city.
As of Wednesday, Parañaque City has recorded 649 COVID-19 cases including 42 deaths and 355 recoveries.