Pateros Mayor Miguel “Ike” Ponce III has announced that houses with positive cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) will be tagged as part of new rules in the municipality under the General Community Quarantine Alert Levels System implemented by the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) starting Sept. 16.

“To ensure that it will be secured and for easy identification, we will put a tag. This is no longer embarrassing. We are no longer embarrassed to say, be known by our neighbors that we tested positive,” he said.

Ponce admitted that there were members of his family who tested positive for COVID-19.

He said the barangay will put a yellow ribbon on the house where there is a positive case. No one in the house under lockdown will be allowed to go out and the mayor said he will send supplies including food to the affected home.

A house with an identified positive case will be under lockdown for 14 days as well as the house of the close contact of the person.

Ponce warned people in the house under lockdown not to go out and to follow the rules that will be set by the municipal government.

The current active COVID-19 cases in Pateros have increased to more than 700, he said, and based on the latest report from the Philippine Genome Center that the municipality received, more than 80 percent of cases that were processed through genome sequencing were the highly contagious Delta variant.

Based on the latest report by the Department of Health, Pateros has 17 Delta variant cases, up from 12 cases in late August.

Ponce explained if a COVID-19 positive person is found to have the Delta variant, his close contact will be quarantined immediately and will be tested within five days.

But regardless of the test results, whether the close contact is negative or positive for COVID-19, he needs to complete the 14-day quarantine. If the close contact tests positive, his close contacts will also be tested.

Areas that will be placed under granular lockdown in Pateros will be under extreme restriction. No one will be allowed to go out for 14 days except health workers, a departing overseas Filipino worker or those with emergency cases.

All business establishments in an area under granular lockdown will be temporarily closed, the mayor said. He said granular lockdown can be imposed on a house, street, sitio or entire barangay.