Iloilo province declares community quarantine

MANILA, Philippines — Iloilo Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. on Sunday ordered a border restriction and community quarantine in the province of Iloilo, the chief of the provincial Public Information and Community Affairs Office confirmed in a post.

According to Executive Order No. 028-C, the restriction is set until April 14, 2020 with the exceptions of government officials, health workers and Iloilo residents. 

The order takes effect immediately.

Returning residents of the province and Iloilo City are only given until Tuesday, March 17 to enter the province, the executive order said, while all persons who enter the province in violation to the restrictions will be placed under quarantine for 14 days, which is how long the virus takes to incubate. 

Defensor also imposed a general community quarantine over the entire provice as well, writing that "movement of the people in the province shall be limited to accessing basic necessities and work." 

The governor also encouraged the private sector to consider flexible work arrangements "provided the same shall not affect the levels of output" and on the condition that social distancing measures be observed.

According to a Philippine News Agency report, the province's mayors would call to lock the province down through a League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP)-Iloilo chapter resolution.

"While we do not have a case, we should prevent the possibility that the case will enter because as what Mayor ( Concepcion Mayor Raul ) Banias said, our public health will be overwhelmed if this will happen," San Enrique Mayor Rosario Mediatrix Fernandez said in the PNA report.

On Saturday, the Health Department reported its biggest single-day spike in confirmed cases as 47 new patients of the new pathogen were recorded that day, bringing the national total to 111 cases. 

Metro Manila 'lockdown'

President Rodrigo Duterte's declaration on Thursday night of a community quarantine in the National Capital Region continued to take shape in the days after, but not without hiccups.

On Saturday night, Presidential Communications Secretary Martin Andanar slammed reports of a Metro Manila-wide curfew, saying it was "fake news".

Earlier in the day Metro Manila Development Authority  general manager Jojo Garcia announced that the Metro Manila Council had passed a resolution for a 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew in the capital.

The DILG later clarified that this was only a recommendation that was dependent on the ordinances of local government units. 

Duterte on Thursday approved hoisting Code Red Sublevel 2 over the novel coronavirus (COVID-19) and placing Metro Manila under community quarantine.