Additional guidelines for implementation of ECQ issued
DAVAO CITY, April 5 (PIA) - The Davao Region COVID-19 Task Force (RTF11-COVID19) has released additional guidelines for the effective implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine.
Among the salient guidelines in the RTF11-COVID19 Order No. 2020-008-A include:
Strict Home Quarantine- Movement of designated individuals per household outside their residences shall be limited to accessing basic necessities, and provision for food and health services.
Suspension of private and public transportation for inter-LGU travels- All private vehicles and any mode of public transportation shall be prohibited from crossing local government unit (LGU) borders within the Davao Region. Except for vehicles transporting COVID-19 frontline workers and skeletol workforces of establishments allowed to operate during the ECQ period. No mass transport of inviduals shall be allowed.
The local government units (LGU) shall provide for transportation arrangement with strict social distancing measures including appropriate health protocols to the following;
a. Skeletal workforces of exempted establishments especially health and emergency frontline services workers, border control personnel and other critical services including those providing basic necessities.
b. Those seeking to avail of basic services such as the need to hospitals or clinics and those who have limited access to establishments to providing basic necessities and
c. Persons stranded in ports, airports and other terminals with their areas of jurisdiction. Each LGU should also ferry persons stranded in its borders with the objective of getting said persons to their places of residences. The LGU may coordinate with other LGU for the transport of said persons. This shall also apply to workers passing through the LGU who have been displaced by the quarantine or dismissed because of the stoppage of business operations.
The guidelines also provide for unrestricted movement by frontline workers. The LGUs in close coordination with the police and the military are directed to allow and authorized the unrestricted movement of the following personnel from their residences to their place of work.
These frontline workers include; all Department of Health officials and staff, all health and service personnel at LGU health facilities, all Philippine Red Cross vehicles bearing the Red Cross logo and staff with Red Cross identification, core staff of the World Health Organization country and regional offices and all medical professionals, hospital administrative staff and aides from private facilities as well as their transportation service providers.
Unrestricted movement of cargo- All cargoes (food and non-food) within to and from the entire Davao Region shall not be delayed by reason of the quarantine. LGUs shall not collect additional or unreasonable exactions including pass thru fees that should hinder the free movement of goods essential for the maintenance of communities and the provision of basic commodities.
On Social Distancing and other protective measures, heads of LGUs shall impose upon their constituents the practice of social distancing and other personal protective measures. Social Distancing entails maintaining a distance of 2 meters from another person.
Liquor Ban- No liquor and alcoholic or intoxicating drinks shall be sold, served or consumed in public 24 hours of the day during the state of public emergency.
Curfew- The curfew hours shall be from 6:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Within the curfew hours, people cannot go out of their houses, except in cases of emergencies or if going to work in exempted sectors/ frontline offices. In Davao Occidental, a 24-hour curfew is observed per the province's declaration of an ECQ effective 12 midnight April 1, 2020.
All local chief executies and local sanggunian in the region are enjoined to immediately issue/modify and pass local orders or ordinances to adopt and implement the guidelines in the Order.
All law enforecement agencies especially the Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army in the region are directed to provide necessary assistance in the implementation of the Order. (PIA/RG Alama)