By Joseph Almer Pedrajas
Personnel from the Quezon City Police District (QCPD) will be manning areas placed by the local government under two-week “concern lockdown” to keep away the public from the risk of possible coronavirus disease (COVID-19) spread.
QCPD Director Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo on Thursday said that his men have already been deployed to 20 areas since 5 a.m. of May 13 to arrest residents caught violating measures being taken by the city to stem the outbreak.
The said areas are in Brgy. Bahay Toro, Brgy. Culiat, Brgy. Sauyo, Brgy. Batasan Hills, and Brgy. Tatalon, where high number of cases in the city have been reported. Movement of people there will be restricted and monitored even further, according to Assistant City Administrator for Operations Alberto Kimpo.
"Imbis na mag-total lockdown ng buong barangay, pagtutuunan natin ng pansin ang mga partikular na lugar sa loob ng barangay na may clustering ng mga kaso ng COVID-19, maaaring ito ay isang kalsada, block, o compound (Instead of the whole barangay, we would rather focus on locking down particular areas where there are clustered COVID-19 cases)," Kimpo said.
"Isa rin sa titingnan natin ay ang high-density population na hindi nakakapagpractice ng tamang quarantine protocols, kung saan malaki ang posibilidad na magkahawaan, kaya kailangan din sila isama sa containment. Mula doon, higit nating paiigtingin ang community-based testing at pag-quarantine (We also look at places with high-density population, where right quarantine protocols are not being implemented and where there is a high possibility of outbreak. So we need to include them in containment and conduct community-based COVID-19 testing and quarantine)," he added.
Personnel from other offices, including the City Health Department, Special Action Force, and the Armed Forces of the Philippines’ Joint Task Force-National Capital Region, will be joined by the QCPD in implementing the measures.
“More than 200 members of the QCPD-AFP-SAF contingent will undergo training on the process of implementing quarantine rules and monitoring of confirmed and possible COVID-19 cases," Dr. Rolly Cruz, head of the city epidemiology unit, said.
During the "concern lockdown," the city will conduct intensified testing and monitoring in the said areas to ensure that they are free from the virus after the 14-day quarantine period.