TAKING into consideration figures that saw a rapid surge in the number of COVID-19 infections in his hometown, President Rodrigo Duterte has placed Davao City back under General Community Quarantine.
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said that the city where the President served as mayor for quite some time, will revert to GCQ, the third strictest in a four-level lockdown scheme, “effective immediately” until Nov. 30.
Under the reclassified set-up, only select businesses are allowed to operate at full capacity in Davao City.
The Palace mouthpiece added that Duterte has already assigned Melquiades Feliciano, Deputy Chief Implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 for the Cities and Bacolod and Cebu, to head the contact-tracing teams that would be deployed to the city.
A One Hospital Command Center will likewise be established there to ensure an efficient referral system as private hospitals are mandated to increase their ward bed occupancy by at least 20 to 30 percent, he said in a statement.
Roque further averred that the government will address the shortage of nurses in health facilities and to provide additional high-oxygen cannula, drugs for treating COVID-19, and medical equipment, adding that accommodation establishments will be tapped to serve as quarantine facilities for health workers and patients with COVID-19.
The Philippines has tallied 413,430 coronavirus infections. In the last 14 days, Davao City accounted for 1,070 of these cases, according to the health department’s website.
Interestingly, the President’s daughter Davao City Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio, said that they would abide by the reclassification of their quarantine status.