North Cotabato town village locked down

KIDAPAWAN CITY, Philippines — The municipal Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases in Carmen, North Cotabato has placed an entire barangay on lockdown due to rising COVID-19 cases.

Carmen Mayor Moises Arendain said Barangay Poblacion was locked down after the task force experienced difficulty locating residents who had contacts with COVID-19 patients.

Arendain said the lockdown, which started yesterday, would be in effect until June 1.

Carmen has 46 active cases, eight of them municipal government employees.

Arendain said they would provide food and other essential items to around 15,000 affected families.