By Rod Lagusad
The city government of Muntinlupa implemented a localized lockdown for the fifth time to prevent the further transmission of COVID-19.
Muntinlupa Mayor Jaime Fresnedi imposed a 15-day Extreme Localized Community Quarantine (ELCQ) in No. 229 Compound, Purok 1 in Barangay Bayanan.
The lockdown started around 6 AM today and will end on April 16, Friday, around 6 AM.
According to Joel Pagkalinawan, Officer-In-Charge of Barangay Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office (BDRRMO), there are 16 confirmed positive cases in the compound.
“Sa loob ng compound ay may sampung pamilya. Noong unang ipa-swab, out of 10 na pina-swab, pito ‘yung nag-positive kaagad. Nasundan ito, naging sampu the following day. Tapos the following two days again ay naging 14 at ngayong araw 16 ‘yung positive sa lugar na ito (In the compound, there are 10 families. When they were first swabbed, 7 out of 10 turned out positive. After another one, the figures turned 10 the following day. In the following two days again, it became 14 and today, 16 tested positive),” Pagkalinawan explained.
The active cases are currently on home quarantine except for two senior citizens who have been confined in the hospital. Other residents in the area will undergo swab testing this coming Saturday.
“For two weeks, walang labasan, Bantay sarado ito ng mga barangay pulis at PNP [Philippine National Police] (For two weeks, going out is prohibited. The [compound] will be closely guarded by the barangay police and PNP),” Pagkalinawan said.
Barricades have been put in place in the area and the city government already gave food packs to the affected residents.
Muntinlupa City Health Office (CHO) Acting Chief Dr. Juancho Bunyi disclosed that the lockdown was implemented after recording a high attack rate of 368 per 1,000 population and a narrow doubling time of 1.84 days from March 24-30, 2021.
The City Health Office will intensify its detection, isolation, and treatment strategies. Contact tracing of close contacts will be done as well.
Mayor Jaime Fresnedi asked for the cooperation of the affected residents and urged them to follow the health protocols.
As of 5 PM of April 1, Thursday, the city government recorded 1,028 active cases. Overall, the city has now 7,402 confirmed cases of COVID-19.
