At least 51 people tested positive for COVID-19 after attending a “super spreader” pool party and drinking session in Novaliches, Quezon City, prompting Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte to order local officials to sanction residents who host large social gatherings that violate existing health protocols.
A report by the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit said 610 residents of Barangay Nagkaisang Nayon were swabbed after the pool party, with 18 more still awaiting results.
At least 31 people have already been admitted to several of the city's isolation facilities.
“We will issue a ordinance violation receipt to anyone who [is] found violating our guidelines and our ordinances for getting together, drinking together or having a karaoke session,” she said. “We still need to be extra careful since there is still the threat of COVID-19.”
Belmonte tasked the City Legal Department to investigate if there were any possible lapses on the part of barangay officials.
The legal department issued a show-cause order to the village chief.
"We will investigate the local officials for possible administrative neglect or misconduct," legal officer Orlando Paolo Casimiro said.
The community has been placed under lockdown since May 14.
Belmonte also urged the public to document violations of public health standards by taking photos and videos whenever possible and to report these incidents to the city's Hotline 122.
The Philippines logged 3,083 new COVID-19 cases on Sunday, bringing the total number of infections .to 1,179,812, as three laboratories were not able to submit their data on time, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
The DOH reported 38 new fatalities, bringing the COVID-19 death toll to 19,951.
The DOH also reported 6,756 patients who recently recovered, bringing the total recoveries to 1,109226.
There were 50,635 active cases, of which 93.1 percent were mild, 2.1 percent were asymptomatic, 1.5 percent were critical, 2 percent were severe, and 1.35 percent were moderate.
Iloilo City has been placed under a stricter modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until the end of the month following a 290 percent rise in its average daily COVID-19 cases from April to May.
The Iloilo City Hall will be temporarily closed and operations suspended effective Monday to give way to a thorough disinfection of its offices and mass swabbing of employees for COVID-19.
Meanwhile, Apayao, Benguet, and Cagayan will retain their MECQ classification until May 31.
The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) raised the quarantine status in Iloilo City after appeals from its city government.
Iloilo City was previously under a modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
On May 13, Duterte lowered the quarantine classification in the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus and other areas to a more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ) “with heightened restrictions” until the end of the month.
GCQ with heightened restrictions means that only “essential travel into and out of the NCR Plus” will be allowed.
NCR Plus, composed of Metro Manila, Bulacan, Cavite, Laguna, and Rizal, was previously under MECQ.
In other developments:
• Lockdowns and containment in at least 12 villages in Bacarra, Ilocos Norte due to COVID-19 infections prompted Mayor Fritzie Gapasin to place the whole town under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting Monday until further notice. While waiting for the final guidelines from the Office of the Governor, Gapasin on Saturday appealed to her constituents to cooperate with front-liners who are working to prevent the spread of the virus. “Please be kind and considerate to our front-liners who don their PPE (personal protective equipment) and go out under the scorching heat of the sun just to reach out to those who are presumed to have been infected with COVID-19. They are not only at risk for the virus but also to heat stroke,” Gapasin said in a statement after she received reports of residents who were rude and untruthful when interviewed.
* Baguio City Health Officer Dr. Rowena Galpo reported that the current COVID-19 variant afflicting patients in the city appeared to be far more infectious and fast-moving. “Before, we would record one person in one family or household getting infected and isolation would prevent its spread. Not so this time. By the time we realize that one has it, the whole family is also infected,” Galpo said.
•The Commission on Population and Development (POPCOM) has identified 1,272 barangays nationwide as having the highest number of COVID-19 cases in the country, averaging 137 cases over an eight-month period from September 2020 to April 15, 2021. Such numbers compare to an average of 19 cases over the same period in 20,889 barangays. POPCOM however noted that 15,252 communities remained “COVID-free” then. The agency found that 63.4 percent of barangays nationwide reported COVID-19 infections, with 11.5 percent reporting deaths in the same period.
