Emi Patnongon was surprised when she woke up this Thursday morning. She found that their street in H. Santos in Barangay Tejeros, Makati was full of tents, and there were policemen and people with personal protective equipment.
The area has been subjected to granular lockdown after someone tested positive for COVID-19.
Eight are said to be positive in the barangay, while 25 are close contacts.
More than 600 families were affected by the 2 -week lockdown, so Patnongon was in trouble because she was not prepared.
“Hindi kami nakapaghanda kung ano kailangan namin araw-araw, lalo na kami, ‘yong mineral water namin, ‘di kami nakapag-deliver. Saan kami iinom? Sa gripo?” said Patnongon.
Grab rider Jomel delos Santos, who slept with a relative, was also not allowed to leave the area.
“Mahirap kasi walang advice na maggaganito pala,” he said.
The Inter-Agency Task Force had earlier said that no warning would be made of the granular lockdown, which is being implemented under the new alert level system.
On Thursday, relief packs arrived from the Department of Social Welfare and Development, in addition to the assistance provided by the local government unit (LGU).
In a statement, Makati Mayor Abby Binay said the LGU responds to the needs of residents affected by the lockdown.
Some Makati residents shocked by lockdown in their area
The LGU will also distribute home care kits in addition to food relief packs.
In Pasay City, 143 barangays are under localized enhanced community quarantine, and 694 houses are in granular lockdown.
In such a city, as long as there are 3 or more cases in an area, it goes into granular lockdown.
Mayor Emi Calixto-Rubiano said relief packs would be received by the affected residents.
Alert Level 4 will last for 2 weeks in Metro Manila.
Meanwhile, as Metro Manila goes under alert level 4, some attractions such as Intramuros and Luneta Park in Manila will reopen.
There will be interzonal leisure travel or excursions of NCR residents outside the region to tourist destinations.
“Puwede nang pumunta as long as yung lugar ay naka-GCQ o MCQ or pumapayag yung LGU na tumanggap ng turista, puwede na,” said Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat.
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