Davao del Norte: The Island Garden City of Samal maintains the strict enforcement of its policies to “delay” the possibility of a local transmission in the city.
This was stated by IGACOS Mayor Al David T. Uy, during the One Davao on COVID-19: A Virtual Presser recently.
Uy shared that one of highly enforced policy of the Samal Inter-agency Task Force on COVID-19 is to limit the entry of outsiders in the city.
“Katong mga dili taga Samal makasulod man sila sa Samal, basta diri sila nag trabaho, naa silay negosyo, naa silay transaction sa local government, makasulod man sila (Outsiders can enter Samal if they work here, they have a business, or they have transactions with the local government, they can enter)” he stated.
However, “those who will cross to Samal for leisure such as visiting relatives, attending birthdays, meeting their lover, or those who want to see their land property, those reasons won’t allow you entry in the city,” Uy warned.
As well, the city has re-imposed the 24-hour liquor ban after observing how people acted when it was previously lifted.
“Nakita nako nga abuso na ang mga tao. Sige nag maoy, unya mag inom dili hygienic kung mu inom sila isa ra kabuok, mag tapok, so gi re-impose namo ang liquor ban (I saw how people abused it. They started to misbehave, and were unhygienic when they were drinking as they only used one glass while not social distancing, so we re-imposed the liquor ban),” Uy explained.
He stressed that such policies are crucial since there is an existing threat of local transmission.
“Ginapaningkamutan jud namo ni doctor diri nga walay local transmission. Sa mga nahitabo karon, murag gina delay nalang namo ni kasi anytime naa na gyud ang possibility of local transmission (We are really working hard to prevent local transmission, because from what has been happening, it seems we are only able to delay it since anytime there really is a possibility of local transmission). What we can do is just delay it,” Uy said.
As such, the city mayor called for the cooperation and understanding of its residents.
He also appreciated the “change of stand” of the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) which brought back the 24-hour curfew on all minors, senior citizens, pregnant women, and people with immunodeficiency or comorbidities.
In the month of May, the Island Garden City of Samal had recorded COVID19 positive cases who had no history of travel outside the city. (Jan Vincent Leuterio/PIA-XI)
