Areas under granular lockdown rise to 844 as infections surge

MANILA – The number of areas across the country placed under granular lockdown due to the continued surge in coronavirus infections has climbed to 844, the Philippine National Police (PNP) said Thursday.

An additional 79 areas were added on Wednesday to the previous day’s tally of 765.

Metro Manila topped the list with 233 areas, followed by the Cordillera Administrative Region, 210; Cagayan Valley, 203, Ilocos Region, 165; Mimaropa, 18 and Western Visayas, 15.

Based on its latest data, the PNP said some 2,083 individuals were affected by the granular lockdowns.

A total of 297 PNP personnel and 550 force multipliers were tapped to secure areas under lockdown.

The PNP said the local government units (LGUs) can immediately decide if they will impose or lift a granular lockdown on a house, compound, street, or building based on the number of reported infections.

Meanwhile, active Covid-19 cases in the PNP dropped to 3,482, despite logging another 349 new infections on Thursday. This is lower than Wednesday’s active case tally at 3,615.

Another 482 new recoveries brought the tally to 42,935, out of a total of 46,543 confirmed infections since the start of the pandemic.

The police force’s Covid-19 death toll stands at 126.