NEARLY 29,000 violators of Davao City’s Covid-19 rules and regulations were apprehended since the start of the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
Public Safety and Security Command Center (PSSCC) Head Angel Sumagaysay bared this during the department heads meeting of the City Government of Davao on Monday morning, July 5, 2021.
From June 5 to July 4, 2021, 9,003 individuals were apprehended for not complying with the mandatory wearing of face shields, topping the list of apprehended violators.
They were followed by face mask violators (7,796), social distancing/mass gathering violators (6,776), curfew violators (4,126), those caught roaming but not to access essential goods and services (956), liquor ban violators (49), and those with fake reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results (14).
Sumagaysay said of the 28,720, a total of 966 are currently facing formal charges.
The official said a total of 143 individuals were arrested for presenting fake RT-PCR test results from November 13, 2020 to July 3, 2021.
“Eleven out of these apprehensions turned out to be positive after their respective swab tests conducted by the CHO [City Health Office] while five are those who deliberately altered their positive swab test results into negative," Sumagaysay said.
From May 16, 2020 to July 4, 2021, the Davao City Covid-19 Task Force implementation cluster has apprehended a total of 85,821 violators of Covid-19 protocols and guidelines.
The recorded 27,954 apprehended face mask violators from May 16, 2021 to June 26, 2021 increased to a total of 29,683 as of July 4 thus making the mandatory wearing of face mask the most violated Covid-19 protocol in Davao City.
This was followed by social distancing/mass gathering violations that surged from 18,905 to 20,559 while the mandatory wearing of face shield violators reached 20,501 from 19,081. The curfew violators also rose to 13,230 from 12,350 while liquor ban violators climbed to 741 from 729.
A total of 7,852 cases have been filed.
From August 1, 2020 to July 4, 2021, pillion riding without barrier violators soared to 8,267 from 7,857 with 2,007 cases filed.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio issued Executive Order 65-A Series of 2020, which cited the issuances of the Department of Transportation (DOTr) Memorandum Circular 2020-014 dated August 3, 2020 that mandates the wearing of face shield with a face mask for all passengers in areas where public transportation is allowed; Department of Trade and Industry (DTI) and Department of Labor and Employment (DOLE) Joint Memorandum Circular 20-04-A dated August 15, 2020, which also mandates the use of face shield with face mask; and the Inter-Agency Task Force that mandates the use of face shield with face mask in supermarkets, public markets, malls, and in venues where government-initiated meetings and critical government services are being conducted.
The city also required employees and clients and visitors to wear a face shield and face mask inside their buildings and offices.
Duterte-Carpio earlier said that the strict enforcement and implementation of the existing protocols and guidelines are crucial in addressing the surge of Covid-19 cases in the city and that there is no need to add more prohibitions and guidelines.
Davao City is under MECQ until July 15. (With reports from CIO)