DAVAO CITY - Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque announced Friday that Davao City will be placed under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) starting June 5.
In a statement, Roque said the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Thursday (June 3) has approved to place Davao City under MECQ starting June 5 until June 20, 2021.
The city government of Davao on Wednesday (June 2) requested the IATF to put Davao City under a 25-day MECQ from June 5 until June 30 due to the increasing number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
City Mayor Sara Duterte presented the surge in COVID-19 cases in the city to support the request to place the city under MECQ in her letter addressed to Usec. Epimaco V. Desing III of the Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) and chairman of the IATF-EID Screening and Validation Committee.
As of Thursday, data from the DOH Davao Center for Health Development shows that Davao City recorded 248 new cases of COVID-19 bringing to 17,775 the total number of cases, with 2,214 active cases.
The city mayor was also concerned that the beds at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (ICU) are now at a critical utilization rate while the Intensive Care Units at SPMC and two private hospitals already full.
As of June 3, the 87 ICU beds allotted to COVID-19 patients at the SPMC are 100% utilized, while the 312 ward beds are 98.08% utilized with 306 ward beds occupied.