Up to 90 houses spread across Tagbilaran City have been placed on lockdown in a bid to contain the spread of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, the city’s mayor announced on Wednesday.
Mayor Baba Yap, in an interview over station dyRD’s “Inyong Alagad” program on Wednesday, said there were “80-90” houses in the city including one compound which were placed on granular lockdown due to infections of members of the households.
“Importante g’yud ni siya na ma-locate g’yud nato ang virus para ma lockdown g’yud nato og dayon,” Yap said.
As of Wednesday, there were 160 active COVID-19 cases in the city down from a height of 386 cases in the previous day.
He said the steep drop in active cases was due to an accumulation of recoveries in four days that were reported in a single day, Tuesday.
Yap said the city conducts 100 to 130 COVID-19 tests per day as part of its contact-tracing efforts.
He explained that first generation contacts of COVID-stricken individuals are mandated to undergo quarantine but no longer required to be tested if they are asymptomatic, based on a memorandum issued by the Department of Health (DOH).
There have been calls from the health sector to place Tagbilaran under lockdown or tighter quarantine measures such as ECQ (enhanced community quarantine) but Yap explained that the LGU does not have the authority to impose a city-wide lockdown.
“Walay power ang LGU para mo lockdown sa iyang city, need g’yud ang IATF [National Inter-Agency Task Force] ang moingon,” Yap said.
In its latest quarantine classification, the IATF indicated that Tagbilaran and the rest of Bohol were still under MGCQ (modified general community quarantine), the least restrictive quarantine level.
With the persisting spread of the virus in the city, the mayor continued to remind the public not to go out of the house for non-essential activities.
“Kita maninkamot ta na kung wala tay mga importante na lakaw, dili na lang g’yud ta mo lakaw sa atong mga panimalay,” Yap said.
He also called on the public to have themselves vaccinated once it is their turn to get jabbed. (R. Tutas)