NEWS ALERT: Mayor Isko suspends Holy Week activities in Manila
Manila Mayor @IskoMoreno informed the public that all Holy Week activities in the city will be suspended. The mayor made this clear in an interview on DZBB on Friday, March 19.
The religious holiday commemorated by Catholics — which starts on March 29 this year — traditionally includes rituals and customs such as the penitensya, Visita Iglesia, and caridad.
Due to the recent increase in COVID-19 cases in Manila, Domagoso said that it was only logical to prevent large public gatherings that could easily turn into superspreader events.
He pointed out: "Ang importante sa Semana Santa, 'yung relasyon natin sa Diyos sa panahon kung saan siya nagbayad ng dugo para sa ating mga kasalanan. Magnilay-nilay tayo."
He added that the city can't afford to take any more chances because its six district hospitals were already experiencing feeling the strain.
"Mga kababayang nakikinig sa Maynila, itong anim na ospital ay nakakaranas na ng alarming rate sa kanilang occupancy. Sapagkat kahapon ng alas-dose ay umabot na po tayo sa 55% occupancy rate. Two months ago, nasa 27% to 32% 'yan," Domagoso said.
Domagoso said that the City Government of Manila will continue to strictly enforce health protocols and implement granular lockdowns.
In fact, this week, six barangays are under a four-day lockdown: Barangay 185 (Tondo 2); Barangay 374 (Sta. Cruz); Barangay 521 (Sampaloc); Barangay 628 (Sta. Mesa); Barangay 675 (Paco); and Barangay 847 (Pandacan).
"If you violate the lockdown we put you in a quarantine facility and you need to be tested. Maraming nag-violate sa first day but as we progressed nabawasan na nang nabawasan. Malaki yung ibinaba," Domagoso stated.
"Mabigat sa loob ko 'yung hirap na inaabot ng tao sa lockdown. But we are sure about our rules. Ganun din sa violators ng curfew," the Mayor added.
In light of this, Domagoso said that, as much as possible, he didn't want to implement a citywide lockdown. He reminded the public not to believe any of the rumors or fake news alleging that the entire City of Manila will be on lockdown.
He reiterated, "Huwag po kayong maniniwala sa chismosang kapitbahay ninyo. Lagi lang ninyong tingnan ang aming mga Facebook accounts. Verified naman 'yan. Doon po kayo kumuha ng impormasyon. At tinat'yaga ko naman araw-araw na magkaroon ng live broadcast."
The mayor added, though, that if ever there is a need to implement a citywide lockdown then he won't hesitate to do it. "Kung kinakailangan maprotektahan naman ang general population, tayo po ay hindi mangingiming mag-lockdown," he said.
Manila Mayor Francisco 'Isko Moreno' Domagoso said that for the past two weeks the city government has been doing 24/7 monitoring and intensified contact tracing in a bid to curb the recent spike in the number of COVID-19 cases.
"[We are checking] if rules are bring implemented properly by enforcement agencies and if barangays are doing their responsibility to contain infections," the mayor said in an interview on ANC's "Matters of Fact" on Friday, March 18.
NEWS ALERT: Manila continues inoculating healthcare workers, assures them ‘vaccines are safe’
The Manila City government continued inoculating hundreds of healthcare workers on Thursday, March 18 while assuring the general public that COVID-19 vaccines are safe.
Simultaneous vaccination drives were held at the Sta. Ana Hospital and Ospital ng Maynila Medical Center this morning, with hundreds of healthcare workers lining up to get inoculated.
So far, Manila City Health Officer Dr. Arnold Pangan said about 4,000 medical frontline workers have already received their first jab of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Manila Mayor @IskoMoreno is urging medical frontliners to grab the opportunity to get vaccinated as the City of Manila received a new batch of COVID-19 vaccines.
There were 1,870 vials of Sinovac vaccines and 1,000 vials of AstraZeneca vaccines delivered to the LGU on Wednesday, March 17.
Manila City Mayor @IskoMoreno appealed for donations to the city government in order to sustain the operations of the city's free COVID-19 walk-in and drive thru testing centers.
Donations to the city government will be used to buy more reagents needed to test more blood samples taken from patients, Domagoso said on Monday, July 20.