11 locations in 5 QC barangays under 'special concern lockdown'

The Quezon City Government on Thursday clarified that no additional areas were placed on lockdown amid the COVID-19 pandemic.

In a press release, the city said it has placed 11 locations in five barangays under Special Concern Lockdown  "consistent with local and national guidelines."

"These areas have been on SCL since May 13. We are not adding as of now, any additional Special Concern Lockdown Areas," it said.

The press release corrected an earlier press release that said 34 areas have been placed under extreme enhanced community quarantine (EECQ) .

Noting the large population of its barangays, the QC government said it finds "challenging to implement" the recommendation of the national government to put under lockdown barangays with two or more households with COVID-19 patients.

"Given that Quezon City’s barangays have very large populations thereby making this recommendation challenging to implement, we agreed upon a system in which only areas of the barangay with active cases and its immediate vicinity shall be placed under EECQ," it said.

"This simply means these areas are subject to tighter checkpoints to ensure that positive patients and suspects on home quarantine (hot zones) are strictly prohibited from leaving their homes, while the movements of those in the immediate environs (warm zones) are strictly monitored," it added.

On Wednesday, the local government announced that there are 1,910 cases with 596 recoveries, 165 deaths. -- Anna Felicia Bajo/BAP/KBK, GMA News