Davao City urges residents to stay at home as COVID-19 cases surge

DAVAO CITY –– Authorities here are strongly urging residents to stay at home as the city posted the fourth-highest number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases among cities and provinces of the country on Sunday, Nov. 15.

Mayor Sara Duterte issued two executive orders scheduled to take effect on Tuesday, Nov. 17 and Wednesday, Nov. 18, respectively, to restrict not only the movement of people within the city but also those from other areas coming here.

Starting Tuesday, Nov.17, residents would be required to use the food and medicine pass issued to each household at the height of the lockdown in March to get out of their houses to buy food and medicine.

Duterte, however, clarified that workers, healthcare, and emergency personnel going out for work only had to present the necessary documents to prove their essential travel to pass unhampered to their destinations.

As of Nov. 15, Davao City posted a total of 1,7774 active cases.

According to the COVID-19 tracker of the Department of Health, the 78 new cases posted by the city on Sunday, Nov. 15, was next only to Manila city’s 79 cases; Rizal province’s 84 cases and Cavite city’s 90 cases, the highest in the country.

Duterte said EO 62 and 63 issued on Friday, Nov. 13, would hopefully protect not only city residents, but also non-residents from COVID-19 by restricting their movements.

“EO 62 is intended to protect residents (from COVID-19), while EO 63, which covers unauthorized persons outside residences (APOR) and non-APOR has been intended to protect non-residents from the surge of COVID-19 cases in the city,” the mayor said.

“Before, when we (in Davao City) still did not have cases because most of the cases were in the national capital region, Davao City tried to protect itself by restricting travels from the national capital as the virus could spread very fast through air travel,” she said over the government-run Davao City Disaster Radio.

“Now (that) there’s a surge of cases here, anybody coming here might bring the virus back to their city. (Hence, this EO is) intended to protect the outside world from the inside,” she said. “The guidelines on the restricted local government unit provides for the process.”

Those considered APOR are health and emergency frontline personnel, government officials, government employees, and their frontline personnel, humanitarian aid workers, those coming into the city for work or business, and those working outside the city who are coming home.

APOR would be required to present their company IDs or certificates of employment to be allowed entry by land to Davao City.

Those who would be traveling by air would be required a medical certificate clearance from their local government units, a company travel order, hotel booking confirmation since they were not allowed to stay in houses in the city, round trip ticket, and a 24 to 48-hour RT-PCR negative test results or they would have to undergo an RT-PCR test upon their arrival at the Davao International Airport.

According to the EO 63, non-APORs would be required among others to have a travel authority from the local government unit, where they came from and travel confirmation from the city government of Davao. Non-APORs would be required to submit their registration five days before their travel.

ZB