THE Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) passed a resolution recommending to the local chief executives and chair of their Local Risk Reduction and Management Councils in the province to enforce an extreme community quarantine and declare certain areas as hot zones.
Resolution No. 2026-01, dated March 30 signed by PIMT-Incident Commander Jonathan Lobaton states that hot zones are areas where there are at least one positive patient of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) or one patient under investigation (PUI) or at least five persons under monitoring (PUMs) in order to heighten awareness and preparedness of the people living in the said area.
Based on the record of the Capitol Information Office, there are 51 areas from 22 LGUs that are recommended for “Hot Zones” that includes six in Bago City; Binalbagan - 2; Cadiz City - 1; Calatrava - 3, Cauayan - 1; E.B. Magalona - 2; Escalante - 1; Himamaylan - 2; Hinigaran - 4; Isabela - 1: Kabankalan - 1; La Carlota - 2; Manapla - 1; Moises Padilla - 3; Murcia - 1; Pontevedra - 2; Pulupandan - 1; Sagay - 2; San Carlos City - 8; Sipalay - 2, Talisay - 2 and Valladolid - 3.
The resolution stated that there is a need to fortify efforts to protect the Negrosanons from the Covid-19 pandemic.
The concerned LGUs will put up signs ‘Hot Zones’ in streets of puroks or barangays declared as such, enforce a lockdown in the areas declared as hot zones, and cancel quarantine passes in households in the said areas. This means that household members in lockdown areas are forbidden to get out of their homes or compounds and the local chief executive will see to it that there are provisions of food, water and other essentials to the residents of the locked down households or at least facilitate the purchase of the same if the households can afford it for the duration of the lockdown period which may be lifted as soon as conditions so warrant.
The authorized LGU personnel in PPEs may conduct measures to disinfect or sanitize targeted households in the hot zones if deemed necessary while the mayors will mobilize the Sangguniang Kabataan officers and members to assist the Barangay Health Emergency Response Team in the monitoring of PUMs and in the conduct of contact tracing, the resolution further stated.
The PIMT was organized by the virtue of Executive Order No. 20-09-A, series of 2020 signed by Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson on February 4, 2020 entitled Activation of Incident Command System.