Families urged to impose ‘household lockdowns’

MANILA – Malacañang on Monday urged Filipino families to impose “household lockdowns” or “family lockdowns” to prevent their loved ones from contracting the highly infectious Delta Covid-19 variant.

Citing Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama, Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque said heads of families should have their own lockdowns instead of relying on quarantine classifications imposed by the government.

“May magandang nasabi sa’kin si Acting Mayor Rama ng Cebu City (Acting Mayor Rama of Cebu City said something relevant). The best way po to implement what we want to achieve is for the head of the family to declare family lockdown,” he said in a Palace press briefing.

Roque said family members should only be allowed to go outside when buying food and medicines.

“Kada pamilya na po hindi kinakailangan lumabas yung pinuno ng pamilya, tatay, nanay, lolo, lola at tiyo, mag-order, ‘Walang lalabas unless bibili ng pagkain o gamot. Kung hindi kinakailangan, lahat manatili sa tahanan (It should be on a per-family basis. If there is no need to go out, the head of the family should order ‘No one should go out unless to buy food or medicine),’” he added.

He said family heads should avoid risking their loved ones’ lives by letting them leave their homes unnecessarily.

“Nananawagan po ako sa lahat ng hepe ng pamilya…Family heads, mag-declare na po kayo ng household lockdown. Huwag niyo nang palabsain ang inyong mga mahal sa buhay dahil baka mamatay pa ‘yan sa Delta variant (I appeal to all family heads, declare a household lockdown. Don’t allow your loved ones to go out as they could die from contracting the Delta variant),” he said.

He also denied that there is a lack of foresight in terms of upgrading the country’s genome sequencing capacity amid the emergence of new Covid-19 strains.

Metro Manila, which is currently under a week-long general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened and additional restrictions until Aug. 5, is scheduled to shift to the strictest enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from Aug. 6 to 20 to prevent the spread of the Delta Covid-19 variant.

To date, there are a total of 216 cases of the Delta Covid-19 variant in the country.

The Delta Variant, which was found to be 50 to 60 percent more transmissible compared to the original variant of Covid-19, brought about the sudden surge in cases in India.

The World Health Organization said the Delta Covid-19 variant has so far been detected in at least 98 countries.