Manila district placed under 48-hour ‘hard lockdown’

MANILA – Sampaloc district in Manila will be placed under 48-hour “hard lockdown” after the Manila Health Department observed a growing cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) in the area, Mayor Francisco ‘Isko’ Domagoso said on Tuesday.

Domagoso signed an executive order shutting down Sampaloc district from 8 p.m. on Thursday (April 23) until 8 p.m. on Saturday (April 25).

During the hard lockdown period, Domagoso said all Sampaloc residents shall be strictly confined to their residences and are prohibited from going out of their homes.

He added that the city government will put the district under surveillance, rapid risk assessment, and testing operations.

“Health authorities will be conducting disease surveillance, testing and rapid risk assessment as the city’s response measures to the imminent danger posed by Covid-19,” he said in announcement aired live on Facebook on Tuesday.

Exempted from hard lockdown are healthcare workers; police and military personnel; government employees; service workers of pharmacies, drug stores and death care services; barangay officials; and accredited media practitioners.

“All other commercial, industrial, retail, institutional and other activities not mentioned in above exemptions in the said district shall be suspended within the specified period of the shutdown,” the executive order read.

“Station commanders of police stations in the said district are hereby directed to employ and deploy officers and personnel in strategic locations and areas in the district necessary for the effective implementation of the shutdown,” it added.

In an interview over radio station DZBB, Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP) spokesperson Brig. Gen. Edgard Arevalo said a total of 150 military personnel will be deployed in Sampaloc to augment police force during the implementation of hard lockdown.

He said the soldiers will be deployed upon the request of Domagoso.

As of April 20, Manila has 99 confirmed Covid-19 cases and 159 suspected carriers of the virus.

The entire Luzon is still under extended enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) which is set to expire on April 30.

The Philippines has so far reported 6,559 Covid-19 infections, with 437 fatalities and 654 recoveries, the Department of Health announced on Tuesday.