Albay IATF allows mayors to declare granular lockdowns

LEGAZPI CITY –– The Albay Interagency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF) has authorized all mayors in the province to declare granular lockdowns in their respective areas where spikes in coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases continue to happen.

Gov. Al Francis Bichara, Albay IATF chair, issued on Thursday Executive Order No. 9 urging local governments to implement tighter health protocols to contain COVID-19 in the province in the last two weeks, or from March 28 to April 15.

But mayors who want to place villages or sub-villages in their localities under granular lockdown would need to submit a written request to the governor for his approval, Bichara’s order said.

The latest DOH health bulletin indicated that Albay has 70 active cases as of April 14. The province has had 701 cumulative patients since March last year, with 588 recoveries and 49 deaths.

The stricter health protocol is in line with the Department of Health (DOH) memorandum on Monday classifying Albay as a moderate-risk area for COVID-19 due to the increasing number of residents infected by the disease.

Local governments were, likewise, ordered to step up their enforcement of health protocols, such as stricter curfew, border checkpoints, and contact tracing.

DOH classified Legazpi City, the provincial capital, as high-risk for a sharp rise in COVID-19 from March 28 to April 11.

The city, whose number of patients are counted separately from the province, has 53 active cases as of Wednesday. On Friday, 15 cases were added to the list.

City Mayor Noel Rosal, however, said in an interview that only two of the city’s 70 villages were listed as high-risk areas as they have the most number of active cases.

Six villages were listed as moderate-risk areas. The rest were low-risk areas.

To prevent the virus spread, Rosal said he had placed 26 households and three offices on lockdown. INQ

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