GENERAL SANTOS CITY- Local authorities have stepped up the implementation of safety protocols, including barangay clustering and total lockdown of the entire city during Sundays, in a bid to contain the local transmission of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
City Administrator Arnel Zapatos said Friday the city government has devised a, “hammer and dance” approach in its COVID-19 response wherein stringent heath were being undertaken while taking into consideration the life of the local economy.
He said there will be stringent measures that will be implemented which, at the same time will not adversely affect the economic activities of the city.
Among the stringent measures are the lockdown at the city’s border to prevent the entry of non-essential travels into the city, clustering of barangays and lockdown during Sundays to regulate the movement of people to get out of their homes, and the implementation of odd-even scheme for motorists starting August 27 until September 13.
Zapatos stressed that the local government was determined to contain COVID-19 virus but, at the same time, consider the essential economic activities of the city.
“We have to adopt to the new normal amid the COVID pandemic but with utmost precautionary measures to prevent the contagion,” Zapatos said.
He said local authorities have undertaken stricter measures against COVID-19 transmission, which reached 60 cases in the city.
Several local transmission cases have also been reported after it was found that some patients were exposed to COVID-19 positives from the neighboring areas of South Cotabato and Sultan Kudarat.