Davao City placed under GCQ but with heightened restrictions

By: RALPH LAWRENCE G. LLEMIT, SunStar Davao City

DAVAO City and Davao Oriental will return to general community quarantine (GCQ) status, while the rest of Davao Region will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced on Thursday afternoon, July 15, the updated quarantine status in the country, with the approval of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases and President Rodrigo Duterte.

The updated quarantine classification in the region will be effective from July 16 to 31, 2021.

Davao City will shift to GCQ but with heightened restrictions after more than a month of being placed under MECQ. The city was placed under MECQ from June 5, and was extended twice until July 15, due to the surge in Covid-19 cases resulting in overwhelming hospital and critical care facilities.

Davao Oriental also graduated from the MECQ status to GCQ with no heightened restrictions.

Davao Occidental, Davao de Oro, Davao del Sur, and Davao del Norte, meanwhile, will be under MECQ until the end of the month.

The entire region was placed under MECQ status due to the rising Covid-19 cases.

As of July 14, Davao Region had a total of 48,673 Covid-19 cases, wherein active cases was at 7,832, while 39,234 recovered, and 1,607 succumbed to the virus.

GCQ with heightened restrictions

According to the IATF Resolution No. 121, the following establishments and activities are prohibited from operating in areas under GCQ with heightened restrictions: entertainment venues (bars, concert halls, theatre, etc.), recreational venues (internet cafes, billiards, arcades, etc.), amusement parks, fairs, playgrounds, kiddie rides, and traditional cockfighting and cockpits.

Also prohibited are outdoor contact sports, games, and scrimmages, except for non-contact sport, which is allowed.

Indoor sports courts and venues, indoor tourist attractions, venues for meetings, conferences, and exhibitions are still not allowed in areas under GCQ with heightened restrictions.

For personal care services such as salons, parlors, beauty clinics, they are allowed to cater up to 30 percent capacity. They may add 10 percent if the area is granted with the Safety Seal.

Outdoor tourist attractions are allowed to cater up to 30 percent capacity provided that minimum public health standards are strictly followed.

Staycations and other Department of Tourism (DOT)-accredited accommodations are allowed without age restrictions, provided that MPHS are adhered to. Staycation hotels with Certificate of Authority to Operate will be allowed up to 100 percent venue capacity, while other DOT-accredited accommodation establishments are allowed up to 30 percent area capacity with the local government oversight.

Indoor dining is allowed up to 20 percent area capacity. They may add an additional 10 percent if they were granted the Safety Seal. Outdoor dining is allowed up to 50 percent.

Religious activities are allowed up to 10 percent capacity but may add up to 30 percent depending on the local government.

Davao City placed under GCQ anew

Published November 20, 2020, 11:33 AM

by Armando Fenequito, Jr., Manila Bulletin

DAVAO CITY – This city has been placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) effective immediately until November 30, following the recent surge in the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19). 

This was confirmed by Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque in a statement released on Friday morning. 

Roque said Melquiades Feliciano, Deputy Chief Implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 for the cities and Bacolod and Cebu, has been assigned to head the Coordinated Operations to Defeat the Epidemic (CODE) teams that will be deployed in Davao City to assist in the response activities.

“A One Hospital Command Center will likewise be established in the city to ensure an efficient referral system as private hospitals are mandated to increase their ward bed occupancy by at least 20 percent to 30 percent,” he said.

He said efforts will be made to address the shortage of nurses in health facilities and to provide additional high-oxygen cannulae, Favipiravir (Avigan), Remdesivir, medical equipment, among others.

Roque said accommodation establishments will be tapped to serve as quarantine facilities for health workers as well as the isolation of positive cases of COVID-19.  

He said law enforcement agencies are directed to assist in the enforcement of granular lockdowns upon affected communities or clusters, and if necessary, deploy personnel in the city.

On Thursday night, Mayor Sara Z. Duterte released a statement, saying the city will abide by any order of the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) should it decide that Davao City needed to be placed under stricter quarantine.

National Task Force on COVID-19 Chief Implementer and Presidential Adviser on Peace Process Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., said on Wednesday during the meeting of Regional IATF 11, he would recommend to place the city under GCQ to control the surge of COVID-19 cases in the city.

Last July, the city was placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) after being placed in enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and GCQ.

But Department of Health (DOH) Region 11 Director Dr. Annabelle Yumang said, during the RIATF 11 meeting, the number of COVID-19 cases started to make a surge after the city suspended curfew and the liquor ban last September.

Duterte, last October, issued an executive order reimposing the curfew and even made it earlier starting at 7 p.m.

Duterte also reimposed the 24-hour liquor ban in the city on November 2.

DOH 11 data showed that, as of November 19, the city had 1,874 active cases with 106 new patients recorded on Thursday night. 

The data also bared, the city has already recorded 5,520 COVID-19 cases, of which, 3,401 have recovered, and 245 have died.