Zambales, Marinduque revert to GCQ

MANILA, Philippines — Zambales and Marinduque have reverted to general community quarantine (GCQ) with restrictions as the number of COVID-19 cases, believed to have been caused by the highly transmissible Delta variant, continues to increase.

Zambales Gov. Hermogenes Ebdane Jr. issued an executive order upgrading the community quarantine classification starting tomorrow.

Ebdane said a liquor ban, 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew, stricter border control, gatherings limited to family members and granular lockdowns would be imposed.

The provincial health office reported 636 active cases on Tuesday. The highest number of cases were recorded in Subic, Palauig and Iba.

In Marinduque, the provincial government tightened restrictions after COVID-19 cases increased by 252 percent.

Gov. Presbitero Velasco Jr. said the province reverted to GCQ after COVID cases increased by 252.3 percent or 1,374 compared to 390 recorded in May.

Velasco said six Delta cases were detected in Sta. Cruz town, one of whom died.

“Very strict kami sa border control dahil nga po natatakot kami na may mga ibang carriers na papasok na may dala pang Delta variant,” he told the Laging Handa briefing.

In anticipation of more infections, Velasco said he ordered barangay officials to convert classrooms into isolation facilities.

In Pangasinan, the provincial inter-agency task force on COVID-19 approved the request of the Villasis municipal government to be placed under GCQ until Aug. 31 as the occupancy rate of isolation facilities is now 95 percent.

The town recorded 79 active cases on Thursday.

The entire province of Pangasinan remains under modified GCQ.

Granular lockdown

In  Davao Oriental, several houses in Mati City, where there is clustering of COVID cases or where contacts of patients are quarantined, were placed on granular lockdown.

Mayor Michelle Nakpil Rabat ordered the implementation of zoning containment strategy in affected barangays.

“Subject barangays shall establish control points... and strictly control movement of people depending on the zoning classification,” an executive order issued by Rabat read.

The Department of Health had earlier placed  Davao Oriental under Alert Level 3 due to a spike in COVID cases.

Quarantine violators

Meanwhile, in Central Luzon, 2,867 persons were either arrested, fined or warned for violating quarantine protocols in the past two days.

Regional police director Brig. Gen. Valeriano de Leon said among the common violations are not wearing of face masks and face shields and violating curfew hours.

In Pampanga, 509 people were accosted for disregarding minimum public health standards. – Emmanuel Tupas, Edith Regalado, Ric Sapnu, Eva Visperas