DESPITE easing some quarantine restrictions, the Davao City Government is not lifting the implementation of the curfew and 24-hour liquor ban anytime soon.
Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio said on Monday, March 15, that lifting the curfew and liquor ban would encourage mass gathering, which could cause an uptick in the transmission of the Covid-19 virus.
The mayor said this was based on the previous experience of the city when the curfew and liquor ban were lifted in the middle of the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) from July to mid-November 2020.
"[Lifting the] liquor ban and curfew, based on our experience kaniadto (before) when we removed that during the [MGCQ], naga-encourage siya sa mga people nga magtapok (it encouraged people to gather)," Duterte-Carpio said in an interview on 87.5 FM Davao City Disaster Radio.
Duterte-Carpio issued Executive Order (EO) 12 Series of 2021, which updated the city's Covid-19 protocols on Monday. One of its salient points is under Section 21, reiterating the implementation of EO 5, an order extending the 24 hour liquor ban and 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. curfew within the city until March 31.
The EO attributed the non-essential movement and gathering to the lifting of the curfew and liquor ban, which resulted in an overwhelming number of Covid-19 cases, causing exhaustion in the city's healthcare and treatment facilities.
"Mudaghan gyud na siya basta manggawas ang mga tao. Expected na nah. Dili na siya surprise. Makita nato na siya bisan asa, dili lang sa Pilipinas. Once mugawas ang tao, magdaghan ang cases because daghan og opportunity ang virus nga makatakod (The cases will increase with more people going out. This is not surprising because we are seeing this happening around the globe -- as more people go out, more opportunities for the virus to infect others)," she said.
The city recently announced the easing of some Covid-19 restrictions brought about by the recent downtrend of active cases.
Meanwhile, the city also relaxes several travel and movement guidelines as it adopts the new guidelines issued by the National Government.
Duterte-Carpio said last week that the city is no longer requiring negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) to all air passengers, in compliance with the directive from the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.
Also, the city in accordance with EO 12, temporarily suspended the implementation of Food and Medicine (FM) pass and other documents for travel/movement are temporarily suspended effective March 15.
Establishments that previously required FM pass to access essential goods and services are now advised to look for Safe Davao QR (DQR) instead.
DQR is the city's electronic contact tracing and travel pass platform intended to be implemented for several purposes. City and non-city residents within the territorial jurisdiction of the city are required to register and secure their own DQR. It was piloted in November last year.
Despite relaxing some restrictions, the mayor reiterated the compliance of the minimum health protocols.
In a video message posted on the City Government of Davao Facebook page on March 9, Duterte-Carpio said the complacency of the observance of health protocols and further relaxing of some protocols might cause "second wave" of Covid-19 cases.
