No hard lockdown yet for Barangay Leon Garcia

BARANGAY Leon Garcia, despite being one of the very high risk areas in Davao City, has not yet been considered to be placed under a "hard lockdown" amid the spread of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the area, Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said.

"Wala pa niabot ang Leon Garcia sa ing-ana (The situation in Leon Garcia is not that serious yet), upon assessment," Duterte-Carpio said in a radio interview via 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.

Data from the Department of Health (DOH) in Davao Region showed that Leon Garcia has 45 Covid-19 cases with 10 active cases, 34 recoveries, and one death.

Leon Garcia Barangay Captain Lita Empis told SunStar Davao in a phone interview on Tuesday afternoon, July 7, that based on their recent monitoring, there has not been a widespread community transmission within their area for almost two weeks.

The barangay official said the increase in Covid-19 cases in their area can be attributed to the testing and health screening conducted in the barangay in the previous months.

She, however, admitted that they had also recorded a number of quarantine violators in their area, especially those not wearing face masks in public areas, not observing social distancing, and violating the food and medicine (FM) pass schedule.

She added that they are having a hard time monitoring the entire barangay with an estimated 16,000 residents.

But Empis said they are not going to be complacent, considering that Duterte-Carpio warned that other barangays might be placed under lockdown.

"Dako nang hagit sa amoa. Sama sa giingon ni mayor, pag daghan gihapong magpabadlong, maparehas gyud mi sa 23-C. Unya dili nato na gusto kay daghan gyung maapektuhan ana. Luoy pud atong mga residente (It is a challenge for us. As what mayor said, we will have a similar fate as 23-C if there will be residents who will continue to defy the city's health protocols. And we don't want that because it will not be good for the residents too)," she said.

In the latest risk assessment report by Davao City Covid-19 Task Force released on Sunday, July 5, 2020, Barangays 23-C, Agdao Proper, and Leon Garcia are classified as very high-risk areas. Among the factors for the classifications is the increasing number of Covid-19 cases in these areas.

The City Government of Davao placed 23-C under 14-day hard lockdown beginning 1 p.m. of July 4 after data from the DOH-Davao Region as of July 5 showed that there are currently a total of 89 Covid-19 cases in the barangay. Of this number, 39 are active cases, 48 have recovered, and two have died.

Since the city was placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the mayor said localized lockdown at the barangay level will still be imposed in case there will be a significant increase of Covid-19 cases in the barangays.

However, the mayor revealed that a lockdown is only a "last resort,"

depending on the situation on the ground.

"Dili lang isa ka factor atong basehan in deciding kung mag-hard lockdown. (We are considering a lot of factors before we would impose a hard lockdown). That is the last resort kay di ta gusto mag-hard lockdown or barangay ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) kay daghan maperwisyo sa ana nga sistema sa pagcontrol sa Covid-19 (because it is not easy to put a barangay under a lockdown or ECQ because a lot will be affected by it)," Duterte-Carpio said.