Año: LGUs may place whole subdivisions under COVID-19 lockdown

MANILA, Philippines — Depending on the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the area, local government units (LGUs) may place whole subdivisions under lockdown, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año said Thursday.

But Año clarified that LGUs must first still seek approval from the regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) before declaring subdivisions under lockdown.

“Hindi lang bara-barangay, kahit na isang subidivision o isang neighborhood. Pwede na yun na lang ilockdown depende kung naagapang maidentify o matrace ang mga tinatawag nating positive cases sa isang lugar,” Año said over Unang Hirit when asked about declaring lockdowns in barangays of areas under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) and general community quarantine (GCQ).

(Not only barangays, but we can also place subdivisions or neighborhoods under lockdown depending on the identified cases or positive cases that were traced in the area.)

“Ang tawag namin diyan operational framework using zoning, so sino-zone namin ang isang lugar o barangay na tinatawag nating focused and targeted,” he added.

(We call that operational framework using zoning so we are zoning an area or village which we call focused and targeted.)

Año said barangays and sitios under lockdown will be called, “critical zones” where the entrances and exits will be closed.

“Magiging mas mahigpit ang lockdown na ito. Ang gagawin diyan ay walang papapasukin diyan at walang papapalabasin. It is more than an ECQ. Ito ay gagawin lang kapag may outbreak at ang kanyang doubling rate ay less than seven days kaya kailangan talgang ilockdown siya,” he said.

(The lockdown will be stricter. Entry and exit will not be allowed. It is more than an ECQ. It will be imposed if there is an outbreak in the area and if the rate doubles in less than seven days, we really need to impose a lockdown.)

“Ang tawag sa lugar na ilolockdown ay critical zone. Ito ay maaaring isang barangay o sitio at paligid niya ay containment zone,” he added.

(We call areas under lockdown a critical zone. This can be placed in barangays or sitios while outside the critical zone is the containment zone.)

/MUF