MALACAÑANG said President Rodrigo Duterte has approved the proposal to take extreme measures against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and place the entire Luzon, where half of the Philippine population resides, under an enhanced community quarantine.
An enhanced community quarantine, which would be similar to the measures taken by the Chinese government in Wuhan City, means Luzon’s more than 53 million residents would be forced to stay at home.
Public transportation systems would be suspended, food and health services would be regulated and more uniformed men would be deployed to implement quarantine measures.
Presidential Spokesperson Salvador Panelo said this will take effect immediately.
“The government will give allowance to people who will have to go home from their work in Metro Manila,” he said.
He added that banks will be closed, but automated teller machines will remain operational.
He said that office work would also be suspended and a work-from-home scheme must be followed.
“Food and essential needs will be delivered to homes. The public will be getting it from the LGUs (local government units). I don’t know if groceries will be open. I will have to ask. But what’s important is there will be sufficient food supply,” he said.
Panelo said Duterte approved the proposal in a meeting with the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Monday afternoon, March 16, 2020.
The IATF had presented to the President its assessment of the first two days of implementation of a general community quarantine in Metro Manila.
The President was expected to announce the enhanced community quarantine later Monday.
In a press conference around Monday noon, Panelo justified a declaration of enhanced community quarantine, saying “this is a matter of national survival.”
“We have to be resigned to that fact. This is a matter of life or death. The only way for us to stop this is to help ourselves,” he said.
He noted that authorities had difficulty implementing social distancing measures, especially in public transportation systems, under a general community quarantine.
“It wasn’t so problematic on Sunday since it was a weekend. But on Monday, three million people reported to work.... We saw those being checked alighting from buses. They were all crowded. They were all side by side,” Panelo said in Tagalog. “We also saw that public utility jeepneys did not comply with social distancing. In buses, some passengers were standing. We really have to assess if what we’re doing is effective... there’s no strict implementation.”
Senator tests positive
Meanwhile, Sen. Juan Miguel Zubiri announced Monday, March 16, that he tested positive for the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
In a Facebook post, Zubiri said he took the test Friday, March 13, while on self-quarantine and he received a call from Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque confirming the positive result.
“To my dear fellow Filipinos, my Kababayans. It is with sadness that I announce that I am positive for Covid-19,” he said. “My heart sank with what he (Duque) had said but I’m uplifted with the fact that I am asymptomatic and have no fever or cough nor am I weak or have any headaches.”
He said his decision to put himself under self-quarantine since last Wednesday, March 11, was “the best decision I made and could have protected my family from contamination.”
He said he will stay locked in isolation for 10 more days until he gets a negative result.
A general community quarantine took effect in Metro Manila at 12:01 a.m. Sunday, March 15, 2020 as Covid-19 cases continued to rise.
As of noon of March 16, the DOH said they had confirmed 142 Covid-19 cases. Twelve had died and only three had recovered, including the one who was discharged from the hospital on March 15.
The number of cases is expected to be more than the official tally because many people, who have reported symptoms, have not been tested because of the lack of testing kits.
Panelo announced that the DOH was expecting the delivery of 20,000 test kits. He did not elaborate. (LMY / MVI / JTM)