Parts of QC on 14-day lockdown

Starting this week, some areas in Quezon City will be placed under a 14day “special concern lockdown” due to the high number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

Under the special concern lockdown, only authorized persons outside of residence such as frontliners with necessary identification cards will be allowed to leave their homes.

The city government will provide relief goods and supplies to all families within the designated areas.

An initial five areas have been identified, although the list has yet to be released as of yesterday afternoon.

Rolly Cruz, head of the city epidemiology and surveillance unit, said the decision to place areas under a special concern lockdown is based on the results of community-based testing conducted by the city government.

“If clustering is observed in these areas, meaning two or more households in each area have positive cases, it is very likely they will end up under the special concern lockdown,” he said.

Urban poor areas and highly dense locations in barangays may also be put on lockdown if there is presence of clustering, according to the city government.

Extensive testing would be conducted in these areas to ensure that the residents are COVID-free after the 14-day period.

City health officials, police officers and soldiers will be deployed in these areas to ensure that quarantine protocols are strictly followed.

They will also be tasked to conduct information dissemination on how to combat the COVID-19 pandemic.

Mayor Joy Belmonte appealed to all residents in areas under special concern lockdown to fully cooperate.

As of Monday night, the Department of Health has recorded 1,589 confirmed cases in Quezon City, with 138 recoveries and 361 deaths.

Meanwhile, 4,175 swabs have so far been collected from residents in the community-based testing of the city government. A total of 1,080 have been tested, with 925 negative and 155 positive.