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Mayor Emi: Localized lockdown better than ECQ

PASAY Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano has expressed belief that placing barangays under localized lockdowns as well as strict implementation of basic health and safety measures have been proven effective as they saw the drop in COVID-19 cases in the past week.

In her statement, the city chief executive stressed that they would not object in the event that the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) places them under ECQ and added that from an average of 100 cases daily in the previous weeks, they were able to bring down the infections to just between 60 to 80 patients daily last week.

Mayor Emi credited the decline in cases to their aggressive contact tracing efforts and their strict implementation of basic health and safety protocols through the EMI habit.

Handa naman po kaming sumunod. Ang sinasabi ko lang po ay dahil sa travel hub po kami ay baka maapektuhan ang buong Metro Manila dahil nandito sa amin ang NAIA, mga MRT at LRT lines at iba pa kung sakali na ilagay kami sa ECQ,” she said.

This, as Foreign Secretary Teddyboy Locsin expressed his support to the mayor and the initiatives that she was doing to prevent the spread of the virus.

In his tweet, Locsin parried the suggestion of former IATF consultant Dr. Tony Leachon to place the city under ECQ, and said the spread could be stopped through granular lockdowns as well as testing, genomic surveillance and contact tracings, all of which are already being undertaken by the city.

The mayor recommended that they instead be allowed to continue with their containment protocol through localized or granular lockdowns of barangays with confirmed cases.

Under their system, any household or compound that has confirmed infections will be locked down and the patients will be brought to isolation facilities for treatment.

Tingin ko ay epektibo naman po ang ginagawa naming ito sapagkat napipigilan naman po ang pagkalat ng virus,” she added.

The mayor reported that as of Friday, only 65 barangays are still in localized lockdowns comprising of 60 houses.They also tapped more than 180 policemen to enforce the implementation of public health standards.

As part of their intensified containment campaign, the city has added 26 new nurses who were deployed in the isolation facilities at MOA, Folk Arts Theater and Pasay Sports Complex as well as the quarantine areas being operated by Oplan Kalinga.

Ibig sabihin po ay epektibo naman ang ginagawa naming paglaban sa virus kaya tingin ko ay hindi na kailangan pang ilagay sa ECQ ang Pasay,” she stressed.

She noted that reports reaching her office indicated that it is still business as usual in their city as the biggest malls and establishments are still being frequented by people coming from various areas of the country.