Authorities caught 65 violators 15 hours after Sampaloc, Manila was placed under “hard lockdown,” the Manila Public Information Office said, citing data from the Manila Police District Station 4.
The lockdown started at 8 pm on April 23 and will end at 8 pm on Saturday, April 25. Sampaloc recorded the highest number of confirmed cases in the city, with a total of 110 as of Friday.
Mayor Isko Moreno said he imposed the lockdown “for purposes of disease surveillance, verification or testing and rapid risk assessment in relation to COVID-19.”
MPD Station 4 chief Lt. Col. John Guiagui, the commanding officer, said they set up a command post at Barangay 435. Sampaloc used two covered courts at Barangays 424 and 420, and two other facilities at Barangays 463 and 581 as detention facilities for arrested ECQ violators.
Manila recorded a total of 547 COVID-19 cases, 58 deaths, and 63 recoveries, as of 5 pm on April 23. Another 764 individuals were considered COVID-19 “suspects.” There is currently no “probable” COVID-19 case in Manila so far.
The Sampaloc district has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases with a total of 110, while 166 more were reported as COVID-19 “suspects.”
Manila City Health Officer Dr. Arnold Pangan said a total of 66 swab samples were collected for the PCR (Polymerase chain reaction) test as part of the city’s COVID-19 mass testing initiative.
Ospital ng Sampaloc Director Aileen Lacsamana, on the other hand, said a total of 236 individuals were subjected to rapid antibody tests. Rapid test kits can yield results in minutes and use blood samples.
‘Hard lockdown’ in Sampaloc
During the ‘hard’ lockdown, Sampaloc residents will be prohibited from leaving their homes except for the following:
- Healthcare workers
- Police and military personnel
- Government employees
- Service workers (pharmacies, drug stores, and death care service establishments)
- Barangay officials
- Media practitioners accredited by the Presidential Communications Operations Office and the Inter-Agency Task Force.
“All other commercial, industrial, retail, institutional, and other activities not mentioned in above exemptions in the said district shall be suspended within the specified period of the shutdown,” the executive order stated.
Sampaloc is the second area in Manila placed on total lockdown after Barangay 20 on April 14.
Mayor Isko ordered a 24-hour shutdown of Barangay 20 in Tondo after residents held boxing and bingo games amid the enhanced community quarantine in Luzon.