A total of 549 areas were placed under granular lockdown as the coronavirus disease-2019 (COVID-19) cases continue to rise in the country.
In a briefing with the President Monday night, Jan. 17, Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said that 268 barangays, 717 households and 1,482 individuals were affected by the granular lockdown.
Most of the areas under granular lockdown are from Region 2 with 191 areas, Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR), with 143, and Region 1 with 123.
In the same report, Año noted that 1,842 police officers were deployed in 556 quarantine hotels with 23,970 returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs).
A total of 478 help desks were also stationed in the Department of Health (DOH), Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) and Department of Tourism (DOT) accredited quarantine hotels.
In the implementation of health protocols, Año reported that a total of 62,833 persons violated the provision on the wearing of face masks.
Of this number, 44,617 individuals were warned, while 9,654 were fined or cited and 3,719 underwent community service.
The police brought four face mask violators to inquest proceedings while 4,839 others underwent regular filing procedures.
The DILG chief also disclosed that 332 persons were caught for mass gathering infractions with 316 being warned and 16 being fined or cited.
A total of 23,528 violators of the physical distancing protocol were apprehended with 20,920 only warned, 590 being fined, 1,713 rendering community service and 305 cases being filed against the others.
Año told the President that the personnel of DILG and its attached agencies including him did not escape the rapid COVID-19 surge in the country.
He pointed out that the Philippine National Police (PNP) has the most number of COVID-19 positive numbers with 4,015 followed by the Bureau of Fire Protection (BFP) with 471 and the DILG central and regional offices with 98 cases.
The Bureau of Jail Management and Penology (BJMP) recorded 91 cases followed by the National Police Commission (NAPOLCOM) (60), Philippine Safety College (13), Philippine Commission for Women (13) Local Government Academy (10), National Youth Commission (4) and National Commission for Muslim Filipinos (1) with four governors and 21 mayors contracting the virus.
In the 783 anti-illegal drug operations conducted from Jan 9 to 15, 1,091 arrests were made with 17 surrenderers and two fatalities.
In the said lawful operations 15. Kilograms of shabu and 91.9 kilograms of marijuana with a combined value of P113,360,294 were seized by the various anti-narcotics units. (Chito A. Chavez)