Areas under granular lockdown nationwide down to 832 from 844 —PNP

From 844, the number of areas under granular lockdown due to COVID-19 cases has decreased to 832, the Philippine National Police said on Friday.

Based on the PNP data as of Wednesday, 240 of the areas under granular lockdown were in Cordillera, 212 in Cagayan, 196 in the National Capital Region (NCR), 165 in Ilocos, and 19 in Mimaropa.

A total of 1,362 people were affected by the lockdowns, according to the PNP, which has deployed 211 personnel and 443 force multipliers to the affected areas to ensure security and adherence to minimum health standards.

Under the rules, local government units (LGUs) decide whether or not to impose or lift a granular lockdown on a house, compound, street, or building based on the number of infections reported.

Granular lockdowns are micro-level area COVID-19 quarantines for "critical zones" in LGUs.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) has placed Kalinga, Ifugao, Mountain Province, and Northern Samar under Alert Level 4 from January 21 to 31.

On Thursday, the Department of Health reported 31,173 new COVID-19 cases, pushing the country’s total tally to 3,324,478. Active infections increased to 275,364.

The death toll rose to 53,153 with 110 new fatalities, the DOH said. —Joviland Rita/KBK, GMA News