Barangay in Caloocan to go into 7-day lockdown starting Friday, August 14

A barangay in Caloocan City will go into total lockdown for one week starting Friday, August 14 after it reported a total of 24 coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, Mayor Oscar Malapitan announced Wednesday.

In a Facebook post, Malapitan said that the lockdown period for Barangay 128 will be from 12:01 a.m. on Friday, August 14 until 11:59 p.m. on Thursday, August 20.

The lockdown will give way to a widespread mass testing and contact tracing which will be conducted by the Caloocan Health Department.

Meanwhile, the Department of Public Safety and Traffic Management will also conduct disinfection measures in the barangay during the lockdown.

“Katulad sa ibang barangay na isinailalim natin sa total lockdown, mahalaga ang kooperasyon ng mga residente upang maging epektibo ang Pamahalaang Lungsod sa pagganap nito sa kanilang tungkulin na makontrol ang pagkalat ng virus sa barangay,” Malapitan said.

The local government will also distribute food assistance to the affected residents.

"Konting tiis at konting pang-unawa po ang hinihingi namin sa ipatutupad na lockdown. Ginagawa po ng inyong Pamahalaang Lungsod ang lahat ng makakaya nito upang tugunan ang problema ng COVID-19 sa inyong barangay,” he said.

Meanwhile, Caloocan COVID-19 Command Center head Sikini Labistilla said that those who tested positive will be brought to isolation facilities.

The Philippines has reported a total of 143,749 COVID-19 cases with 68,997 recoveries and 2,404 fatalities. — Joahna Lei Casilao/BM, GMA News