Guide to Luzon COVID-19 Enhanced Community Quarantine
President Rodrigo Duterte announced Monday that the entire Luzon would be placed under community quarantine or total lockdown. The order will take effect by midnight on March 17, Tuesday, until April 12.
What happens now? Below is a quick guide to the enhanced community quarantine.
Under an enhanced community quarantine, the following will be implemented:
- strict home quarantine shall be implemented in all households;
- transportation shall be suspended;
- provision for food and essential services shall be regulated;
- and heightened presence of uniformed personnel to enforce quarantine procedures will be implemented.
Guide to Luzon COVID-19 Enhanced Community Quarantine
Is work suspended?
- Work in the executive branch of government shall be in work from home arrangement except for the Philippine National Police, Armed Forces of the Philippines, Philippine Coast Guard and health and emergency frontline services, border control, and other critical services.
- In the private sector, only private establishments providing basic necessities will be allowed to remain open during the enhanced community quarantine of Luzon.
- Individuals working in health, medicine, and sanitation products could still go to work.
- Business Process Outsourcing establishments and export-oriented industries will likewise remain operational but must enforce social distancing measures. Employers in these industries were also ordered to provide temporary accommodation for their workers by Thursday, March 18.
Are we allowed to go outside?
- Yes, but only to buy food and medicine.
- Officials also added only one to two members of the family could go outside to buy necessities.
Where can I buy basic commodities? Are banks open?
At a press briefing in Malacañang, Cabinet Secretary Karlo Nograles announced that only the following establishments would be permitted to remain open:
- Public markets
- Supermarkets
- Groceries
- Convenience stores
- Hospitals
- Medical clinics
- Pharmacies and drug stores
- Food preparation and delivery services
- Water-refilling stations
- Manufacturing and processing plants of necessary food products and medicines
- Banks
- Money transfer services
- Power, energy, water, and telecommunications supplies and facilities
I don’t have a car, how can I buy basic commodities?
- You would have to walk since all public transportations are suspended.
- Officials said they are yet to confirm whether the government could provide transportation to those who don’t have their own vehicles.
How can I pay my bills if I don’t work?
- Officials said concerned government agencies should formulate programs, projects, and measures such as a moratorium on lease rentals, advanced 13th-month pay, a reprieve in utility bills, for the social benefit of affected workers and residents in Luzon.
What will happen if I violate the provisions of enhanced community quarantine?
- Justice Secretary Menardo Guevarra said violators of the enhanced community quarantine imposed by the government might be arrested and penalized.
As of today, March 16, the Philippines has 142 cases of COVID-19 with 12 fatalities.
Also read: Senator Migz Zubiri has COVID-19