Davao eases lockdown; Cebu extends isolation

BIKE PATROL Policemen on bicycles patrol Davao City’s streets to ensure that residents follow the strict quarantine guidelines and health protocols set by the local government. —KARLOS MANLUPIG

As Davao City prepares to ease community quarantine rules after April 26, Cebu City has decided to extend its lockdown until May 15.

Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte said she based her decision on the recommendation of the city’s public health advisory panel, composed of experts in epidemiology and infectious diseases, following the decrease in the rate of new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in the city in the past days.

As of Thursday, the city had 98 confirmed COVID-19 patients, 17 of whom had died while 49 had recovered.

According to Duterte, the city’s interagency task force on COVID-19 will draw up specific quarantine modifications that will be introduced on April 27. A key feature is the return of public utility vehicles and buses on the road but with a limited number of passengers, she said.

Some industries may also reopen, while others are encouraged to maintain a skeleton workforce in offices and continue work-from-home arrangements.

The city, Duterte said, was also looking at shortening work schedules.But the mayor said residents would still be required to wear face masks and follow physical distancing.

She said limitations on movement outside of the home through the use of food and medicine passes, scheduling of errands and essential activities through the odd-even scheme, clustering of the population and total lockdown in the city every Sunday would remain.

Duterte assured residents that food rations would be delivered to their houses.

Cebu spike

In Cebu City, Mayor Edgardo Labella extended the lockdown, originally set to expire on April 28, to May 15, after COVID-19 cases in the city reached 330 on Thursday.

“There is a need to extend our [quarantine] as COVID-19 cases continue to rise due to the fact that we have been doing targeted, massive testing of residents in [villages] where there are positive cases,” Labella said in a statement on Wednesday.

The city has seen a spike in cases in the past two weeks, mostly at the city jail and at Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz.

On Thursday, another densely populated village, Labangon, recorded 15 cases, accounting for most of the confirmed cases for the day.

Cebu recorded a total of 360 cases—330 in Cebu City, 18 in Lapu-Lapu City, nine in Mandaue City and three elsewhere on the island.

In Iloilo, Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. said the provincial government was planning to implement “modified” quarantine measures until May 15.

Defensor said adjustments would be made, hoping to “maximize available quarantine measures while sustaining the economy.” —WITH REPORTS FROM NESTLE SEMILLA AND NESTOR BURGOS JR.