Lipa City mayor orders stricter lockdown measures under GCQ
BATANGAS, Philippines — The mayor of Lipa City in Batangas has ordered stricter measures following President Rodrigo Duterte's pronouncement classifying the entire Batangas province under general community quarantine (GCQ) effective Saturday.
In a video message Friday, Lipa Mayor Eric Africa said the city will go on a total lockdown because this is the clamor of residents and netizens.
While on lockdown, residents will be required to secure new quarantine passes from their respective barangays.
Secondary roads from neighboring towns leading to Lipa City will also be closed.
According to Africa, data from the City Health Office showed that most of the COVID-19 positive cases in the last month were residents working outside the city who infected other members of their family.
"Inaatasan natin ang mga barangay captain na hanapin at ilista ang lahat ng nakatira sa kanilang barangay na nagtatrabaho sa ibang bayan at siguraduhin na sila ay may isolation facility sa kanilang bahay para hindi makahawa sa kanilang pamilya. Kung wala naman po ay kayo po ay aking ineencourage na magstay na muna sa inyong pinagtatrabahuhan para po maprotektahan nyo rin ang inyong pamilya," he said.
(We order the village chiefs to determine and list down their constituents who are working outside the city and make sure that they have an isolation facility to prevent the spread of COVID-19 to other members of the family. If they had none, we encourage them to stay with their employers to protect their loved ones from the virus.)
Meanwhile, non-residents who are working in the city will now be required to present a negative swab or rapid test result before they are allowed to enter.
A liquor ban is also being implemented and the curfew has been extended from 7 p.m. to 5 a.m. Prior to the GCQ, the curfew was from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m.
"Muli po akong nakikiusap sa inyong lahat na tayo po ay mag-ingat. Hindi na po sa ating sarili kundi para sa ating pamilya dahil hindi po namin pwedeng bantayan ang lahat ng tao. Tayo po ay magtulungan para masiguro po natin na maibaba ang active cases dito sa Lipa," Africa pleaded.
(I appeal to everyone to stay safe. Not only for ourselves but also for our family. We can't attend to everyone. Let's help each other to decrease the number of active cases in Lipa.)
Based on the COVID-19 status report released by the Batangas Provincial Health Office as of July 31, Lipa City has the second highest number of cases in the province with a total of 107 cases and 33 active cases to date.
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