THE Department of Social Welfare and Development (DSWD)-Western Visayas has been preparing food packs for Iloilo residents.
This developed after the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) declared the whole of Iloilo province and Iloilo City to be under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
The ECQ category is expected to last until July 31.
The declaration of the ECQ came after the Department of Health confirmed two cases of the Covid-19 Delta variant in Pandan, Antique. The two patients, a couple, were brought to a private hospital in Kalibo on May 31 and were later diagnosed with Covid-19.
DSWD-Western Visayas Regional Director Evelyn Macapobre said she had already requested assistance from DSWD Undersecretary Felicissimo Budiongan of Disaster Response Management for more food packs.
"Initially, we received 5,000 food packs from the DSWD Visayas cluster and hope more will arrive in the days to come for the augmentation needed not only by Iloilo residents but also to the entire region," she said.
It was gathered that aside from the 5,000 food packs, the DSWD-Western Visayas has a stand by 14,000 food packs in storage.
Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Trenas reported that the city alone needs 150,000 family food packs each week. (SunStar Philippines)