DAVAO CITY – The curfew and liquor ban will not be lifted anytime soon even after the city government of Davao eased some coronavirus disease (COVID-19) quarantine protocols, Mayor Sara Duterte said.
Duterte said easing further the quarantine protocols such as removing the 24/7 ban on alcoholic beverages and curfew hours from 9 p.m.5 a.m. would encourage social gathering where the highly contagious disease could spread among people.
“We will not lift liquor ban and curfew because, based on our experience before, when we removed that during MGCQ (Modified General Community Quarantine), it encouraged people to gather,” she said as the current protocols will remain in effect until March 31.
The city was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from April 4 to May 15, general community quarantine (GCQ) from May 16 until June 30, and modified GCQ from July 1 to November 19.
It reverted to GCQ on November 20, 2020, after the city saw an alarming increase in new cases.
Based on Executive Order 12 issued on Monday, the City Government of Davao also temporarily suspended the implementation of food and medicine (FM) pass effective Monday or four months after the local government ordered its reimposition amid (COVID-19).
Duterte said the public only need their Safe Davao QR (DQR) codes upon entry to business establishments to access essential goods and services.
It also permits public markets to operate daily from 3 a.m. to 6 p.m.
As of March 15, the Department of Health (DOH)-Davao Region reported 21 new cases, bringing the total cases to 20,666, with 877 active, 18,906 recoveries, and 883 deaths in the region.
Out of the total, Davao City, which reported the highest COVID-19 cases in Mindanao, tallied 13,395 cases, with 412 active, 12,331 recoveries, and 652 deaths. Davao de Oro reported 1,229 cases, Davao del Norte with 3,156, Davao del Sur with 1,387, Davao Occidental with 220, and Davao Oriental with 1,279.