Entire Sampaloc district in Manila, placed on 48-hour lockdown

CALOOCAN CITY, April 22 (PIA)–Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso has ordered a 48-hour “hard lockdown” of the entire Sampaloc district for disease surveillance, rapid risk assessment and testing operations amid the COVID-19 crisis.

Domagoso signed an executive order on Tuesday, April 21, to shut down the Sampaloc district from 8:00 pm on Thursday, April 23 until 8:00 pm on Saturday, April 25.

As of 5:00 pm on Monday, April 20, about 99 confirmed COVID-19 cases and 159 suspected persons were recorded by the Manila Health Department in the Sampaloc area.

The mayor said health authorities will be conducting disease surveillance, testing and rapid risk assessment “as the city’s response measures to the imminent danger posed by COVID-19” not only to the district but also the entire city.

During the shutdown, Domagoso said all residents of the Sampaloc district shall be strictly confined to their residences and are prohibited from going out of their homes.

However, the mayor’s executive order exempts the following: healthcare workers, police and military personnel, government employees, service workers (pharmacies, drug stores and death care service establishments), barangay officials and 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.

“Station commanders of police stations in the said district are hereby directed to employ and deploy officers and personnel in strategic locations and areas in the district necessary for the effective implementation of the shutdown,” it added. (Manila PIO/PIA-NCR)

source https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1039660