THE City of Davao will not implement a full lockdown under Alert Level 3 but will instead impose granular lockdowns depending on the Covid-19 cases per area.
“We will impose the zoning containment strategy or the lockdown pero (but) more often than not, those are just granular lockdowns. Kung unsa lang to area na naay increasing number of cases (only those areas with increasing number of cases),” Dr. Michelle Schlosser, spokesperson of Davao City’s Covid-19 Task Force, said during an interview with the Davao Disaster Radio on Friday, January 14, 2022.
Before implementing a lockdown, she said establishments or communities where there are reported Covid-19 cases will undergo risk assessment. If the risk is high, the office or an area will go under lockdown.
According to Schlosser, there are currently five offices under risk assessment, one of which turned out to be high risk.
“Naa tay na-lockdown na office (We have an office under granular lockdown), I believe that na lockdown siya January 9,” she said.
The spokesperson also clarified that the current alert level of Davao City will depend on the number of cases, which is hard to predict whether it will drop or increase.
Dr. Rachel Joy Pasion, Unit Head of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Department of Health Davao Region (DOH-Davao) during a virtual presser on January 10 , said the alert level categories are dependent on the two-week growth rate and the 14-day average daily attack rate that assesses the virus’ transmission.
“There are a lot of possibilities depende unsa ka daghan ato cases and unsa ka-high risk atong lugar,” she said. “As of the moment, ang i-strengthen gyod nato is to remind the public of the minimum public health standard and magpabakuna so that altogether, mapababa nato atong cases and mubalik ta sa alert level na free ang movement sa tanan.”
(There are a lot of possibilities depending on the number of cases and how high risk our area is. As of the moment, we will focus on reminding the public about the minimum public health standard and the vaccination so that altogether, we can decrease the number of cases and we can go back to an alert level that allows movement for everyone.)
Meanwhile, Schlosser reminded the public regarding the movement of minors and the vulnerable population, which is restricted to essential travel only.
“Allowed sa mga senior citizen and mga bata to go to the mall is to only to eat and dine because food is essential (Senior citizens and minors are allowed in malls only to eat because food is essential),” said Schlosser. However, proof of medical appointments for clinics located inside malls are required for entry.