Quezon village under lockdown due to spike of COVID-19 cases

LUCENA CITY – With the surge of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, the local government of Sariaya town in Quezon province has placed an entire barangay (village) under a “lockdown” status to prevent the spread of the virus.

Dr. Constancia Catarroja, Sariaya health officer, disclosed on social media on Saturday, March 20, that out of the current 76 active virus carriers in the locality, at least 49 of them are residents of Sitio (sub-village) Centro in the rural Barangay of Antipolo.

Sariaya, only 11 kilometers away from Quezon capital Lucena City, posted the highest number of active cases among all localities in the province as of March 20.

On March 14, at least 24 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Sariaya, followed by another group of 25 virus carriers on March 17. Almost all new cases were from Antipolo village.

Sariaya Vice Mayor Alex Tolentino said the local government has decided to place the whole Antipolo village under lockdown status until March 29. As a precaution, all villagers are prohibited from going out of their houses.

Only those who would seek emergency medical attention and have passes to buy essential goods were exempted from the strict quarantine protocol.

Tolentino said all barangay chief executives will hold an emergency meeting on Monday, March 22, to map out other course of actions to combat the spike of COVID-19 cases in the locality.

“They will particularly address the expected arrivals of more visitors this coming Holy Week. For sure, there will be restrictions on outsiders who want to come in,” Tolentino said in a phone interview Sunday morning.

In its 10 a.m. bulletin Sunday, March 21, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), said the province has logged 7,666 COVID-19 cases, 7,038 recoveries and 270 fatalities. The province has 358 active cases.

JE