THE Provincial Government of Davao Oriental will not allow private vehicles coming from areas that are continuously placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) throughout the entire duration of the general community quarantine (GCQ).
Those barred from entering the province are people from ECQ areas in Davao Region such as Davao City, Tagum City, and the province of Davao de Oro.
In a press release issued by the Provincial Government issued on May 7, Provincial Task Force (PTF) action officer Dr. Reden Bersaldo said only those stranded passengers rescued by the Oplan Sundo buses, as well as individuals considered as frontliners will be allowed entry in the province.
Bersaldo said the policy was based on the recommendation of the PTF on Covid-19, in reference to the Omnibus Guidelines on the Implementation of Community Quarantine in the Philippines issued by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID).
Davao City, on May 8, announced “to ease its lockdown restrictions” by allowing private vehicles to pick up stranded relatives within the city for 12 hours only.
However, Bersaldo said re-entry of these vehicles to the province will not be permitted.
Bersaldo said the measure was to mitigate the threat of the spread of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19).
He is asking for the public’s patience and understanding as the province “will not take chances” for the virus to enter the province.
The official added there is a huge threat that the swarm of individuals who will come in will not be monitored due to the limited number of manpower to do the surveillance and monitoring.
“If we allow everyone to go home, our quarantine facilities cannot hold them all,” he said.
He added, “There’s a huge chance that these people aboard private vehicles will not be properly screened. They might also evade surveillance and go straight to their homes in the communities, thus, exposing the people in the community”.
“Even if we want everyone to be fetched, screening of all these residents is still not feasible,” Bersaldo also said.
He underscored that only through the Oplan Sundo can the province be assured that proper health protocols are being practiced since all individuals are accounted for and proper health protocols are being made as passengers are properly assessed and are made to sign an agreement for quarantine and swab testing.
As of Thursday, May 7, there were already 115 individuals who have availed the Oplan Sundo program. Most of these individuals are students and overseas Filipino workers. These individuals were immediately transferred to quarantine centers and consequently tested.
The province, since last week, already started its risk testing using reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) of all individuals rescued under the Oplan Sundo.
According to the Provincial Government, 95 persons under monitoring, and 12 Covid-suspected persons were tested. All of them tested negative and were already sent home.
The next batches of stranded individuals set to be rescued are those who lost their jobs due to the ECQ.
This policy was also agreed during the recent meeting of Governor Nelson Dayanghirang with the local chief executives of the municipalities and city as they adopted President Rodrigo Duterte’s Executive Order 112, s. 2020.
According to the Department of Health (DOH), Davao Oriental has a total of three confirmed Covid-19 cases, who all have recovered.