‘Lockdown Sundays’ helps curb COVID infections in Bacolod

MANILA, Philippines — Life in Bacolod City has stood still in the past four Sundays as people stayed home to prevent the spread of the coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

Launched when the city went on an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the “Lockdown Sundays” is mandated in an executive order signed by Mayor Evelio Leonardia.

“This is our collective bid to halt the spread of the coronavirus,” Leonardia said as he appealed to residents to comply with the order.

“At the very least, with this measure, we can say the global foe that is COVID-19 stands still for 24 hours. One cannot underestimate the importance of that, when the virus cannot move for a long time,” he added.

The infection rate in Bacolod has been manageable and most of the cases involved people who came from other places. 

“The level of infection rate can be attributed to the ECQ, but for sure Lockdown Sundays helped, too,” Leonardia said.

He attributed the success of the measure to the unity of the people. 

“It shows we can act as one, and we are confident that we will win this war against COVID-19,” he said.