112 areas placed under lockdown

The Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) said on Friday that 112 areas have been placed under localized lockdown by their respective local government units (LGUs) in a bid to contain the spread of the coronavirus disease (COVID19). DILG Secretary Eduardo Año said the “localized lockdown” is the best approach in containing COVID-19 as it surgically targets areas where cases, either positive or suspected, are concentrated.

“Localized lockdown is like hitting COVID-19 at its source which has been proven to be effective especially in the 112 areas where it is currently being implemented. It really works since the hot zone areas are secluded from the rest of the community, hence, stopping the transmission to other communities,” Año said.

DILG Undersecretary and spokesperson Jonathan Malaya said that of the 112 areas that have been placed under localized lockdown as of June 21, 67 are in the Cordillera Autonomous Region (CAR); 18 in the National Capital Region, 19 in Cebu City, one each in Cavite, Quezon Province, and Leyte, and five in Cagayan de Oro City.

He added that CAR has 67 areas which have carried out or are carrying out localized lockdown encompassing seven municipalities, 51 barangays, one purok, one subdivision, two buildings and five zones within Mt. Province, Province of Apayao, Kalinga, Ifugao, Abra, Benguet, and Baguio City.

As of this writing, CAR only has 109 confirmed COVID-19 cases, 62 of which are active while 42 cases have already recovered. It currently has a 1.8% case fatality rate.

In the National Capital Region (NCR), there are 18 localized quarantine – four in Quezon City, nine in Parañaque City, two in Caloocan City, and one each in Muntinlupa City, Navotas City, and Malabon City.

In Cebu City, 12 barangays have been tagged as COVID-19 hotspots as of June 25, down from 19 in the June 21 report.

“Generally, all barangays are still under lockdown but we have 12 focused barangays where stricter measures will be enforced. What we will have is a segmented lockdown where an entire barangay may not be placed under total lockdown. It could just be a sitio, a street or a household,” said Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella in a press briefing Friday at the Central Command Headquarters.