DAVAO CITY - The municipality of Cateel in Davao Oriental province has been placed under total lockdown after the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases "concurs with the imposition of the containment lockdown" as requested by the Provincial Task Force (PTF) COVID-19.
The provincial government of Davao Oriental confirmed this on Tuesday. Based on the copy of the Resolution No. 17, Series of 2020 dated November 26, the Local Task Force "shall strictly adhere to the implementation of the zoning containment strategy."
The said strategy includes a strict lockdown of the area, strict enforcement of the minimum health standards, intensified contact tracing, quarantine of close contacts, and isolation of confirmed cases.
The provincial government said travels in and out of the municipality are prohibited and only emergency or essential travels are allowed. The province also prohibits mass gatherings in the town.
"To all concerned individuals, please be reminded that under Section 9 of RA 11332, non-cooperation to the guidelines relating to public health is punishable by law. We urge everyone’s cooperation for everybody’s safety and to prevent the spread of COVID-19," it added.
Last November 21, the province asked permission from the RIATF to allow the declaration and implementation or imposition of a containment lockdown in Cateel which recorded 20 COVID-19 cases in two days.
The municipality currently has 16 active cases of COVID-19, two of them are admitted in referral hospitals while 14 are admitted at the Cateel Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facility.
As of November 30, Davao Oriental has 36 active cases of COVID-19, 401 recoveries, and five deaths. Four new cases of COVID-19 were recorded on Monday in Cateel.