The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) reported that 57 areas in Metro Manila are currently under a granular lockdown, based on the National Capital Region Police Office’s (NCRPO) report.
In today’s (Sep. 17) Laging Handa public briefing, DILG Spokesperson Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said the Department of Health (DOH) provided test kits in the areas under the granular lockdown for the local government units (LGUs) to implement aggressive COVID-19 testing in the area and control the spread of the virus.
“Mayroon pong binibigay na tulong ang Department of Health by providing testing kit sa lahat ng LGUs kasi kasama nga po sa ating protocol when we do a lockdown is iyong active case finding, ramped up and aggressive testing ‘no. So mayroon pong tulong na manggagaling sa Department of Health towards the provision of testing kit sa ating mga local government units,” he said.
In relation to this, the department left the discretion to the LGUs in giving prior notice to the areas that will be placed under granular lockdown.
“We will leave it now to the discretion of the local government unit kung sila ba ay biglang magla-lockdown lamang or magbibigay sila ng advance warning doon sa mga lugar na ito.”
Malaya emphasized that the lockdown areas are considered as “critical zones” due to COVID-19-related cases and transmission.
“Ito pong mga ila-lockdown natin are classified as critical zones. Ibig pong sabihin mayroong positibo diyan, mayroong clustering of cases and there is active transmission of COVID-19 in that specific area, kaya [iyan] nga po ang dahilan na nila-lockdown sila.”
Meanwhile, the DILG official said the first day of the pilot run of the alert level system was successfully implemented and was the result of “a series of consultations” with the Metropolitan Manila Authority Development (MMDA), LGUs, and mayors.
“Maayos po iyong ating pilot run on the first day of implementation of the alert level system. In fact po, maliwanag po sa mga local government units iyong mga pamantayan, which was the result of a series of consultations with the Metro Manila Development Authority [MMDA], kasama na rin po ang ating mga mayors ‘no sa mga meetings and all other officials.”
Report from Patrick de Jesus/NGS-rir
