The province of Sulu will implement a lockdown from January 4 to January 17 to prevent the new Corona Virus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) variant from entering the province after a report of the strain surfaced in Sabah, Malaysia..
“Pinirmahan ko lang kagabi ang EO extending MGCQ, but in addition ay magkakaroon ng lockdown effective January 4 hanggang 17. Extendable ‘yan, depende sa sitwasyon (I just signed the EO extending the MGCQ, but in addition, there will be a lockdown effective January 4 to January 17. That’s extendable depending on the situation),” Sulu Governor Abdusakur Tan disclosed.
In addition to this, Sulu Governor Tan has asked the government to help their province while it is under lockdown.
“Marami tayong pangangailangan gaya ng pagkain. Ang pagkain dito sa Sulu, maraming nanggagaling sa Sabah kasi mura ang mga bigas (We have plenty of necessities such as food. The food here in Sulu mostly comes from Sabah because the rice is affordable).”
The governor also pointed out that the Sulu lockdown is needed since the province lacks medical facilities in case the new COVID-19 variant gets in.
The Western Mindanao Command (WesMinCom) will intensify patrols at the border control points in the islands of Sulu to prevent people from entering amidst the lockdown.
The Department of Health (DOH) assured that Sulu is included in the biosurveillance to further prevent the entry of the new COVID-19 strain in the country.
Report from Patrick De Jesus
