Makati Mayor Abby Binay during the INQside Look interview.
MANILA, Philippines — The Makati City government assured its residents that it would provide for their needs during the granular lockdown.
Metro Manila’s quarantine status was downgraded to general community quarantine after the national government opted for granular lockdowns instead on Wednesday, September 8.
READ: Metro Manila to be under GCQ from Sept. 8-30, to pilot shift to granular lockdowns
Lockdowns affecting a single building, street, district, or village are referred to as granular lockdowns.
“Makati is the first local government unit to implement a localized or granular lockdown last March,” said Makati Mayor Abigail “Abby” Binay.
“As we shift from modified enhanced community quarantine to general community quarantine on Wednesday, I would like to assure Makatizens that our city will provide food packs, COVID-19 home care kits, and swab tests for them in case their street or barangay is placed under granular lockdown,” she added.
According to Binay, the city conducted house-to-house swab tests during the first 48 hours to determine and isolate positive patients, apart from food packs and free delivery of medicines, implementing a 14-day localized community quarantine (LCQ) in Barangay Pio del Pilar last March.
After the results were out after a day or two, the lockdown was lifted in areas where people tested negative.
A concierge was available for the purchase of medicines and other necessities.
The city has already started providing COVID-19 home care kits to COVID positive Makatizens with mild symptoms, said Binay.
“Since Metro Manila is under Alert Level 4, our goal is to help Makatizens recover so that they will not need to be hospitalized,” the mayor noted.
She added that city hall would focus on testing symptomatic patients and tracing close contacts to prevent superspreader events.
According to Metropolitan Manila Development Authority chief Benhur Abalos, the granular lockdowns in Metro Manila will use a four-level alert status. Per city, this will determine which businesses can operate.
As of Monday, the DOH said every LGU in Metro Manila, except for Manila City, is under Alert Level 4. Manila City is under Alert Level 3.
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