LGU Naga adopts new approach vs Covid-19

By Jason B. Neola

Several zones in barangays Concepcion Pequeña, Del Rosario, San Felipe, and Concepcion Grande in Naga City will be set up with community checkpoints to dissuade or prohibit their residents from going out of their houses for the sake of fun, excitement or recreation, or anything that is not essential.

The checkpoints, which will be manned by barangay officials, will be put up in areas where there are individuals who got infected with the virus as shown by their RT-PCR test results or have been tested positive after undergoing antigen procedure.

In a meeting with Mayor Nelson Legacion and HERTF chair Dr. Butch Borja, the Liga ng mga Barangay identified the four barangays as among the villages in Naga with the highest number of Covid-19 cases.

The approach, which is to be strictly implemented under the LGU’s new rule on coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) response, is called zonal containment strategy (ZCS) that is seen as an effective tactic to help control the transmission of the virus within neighborhoods and communities.

ANTI-COVID MEASURES Naga City’s 27 punong barangays in a meeting recenty with Mayor Nelson Legacion regarding the implementation of zonal containment strategy. PHOTO BY RUSSEL VARGAS/CEPPIO

As of press time on Wednesday, Mar 7, the Health Emergency Response Task (HERTF) has recorded 20 new cases of Covid-19 for that day alone. “The figure was the highest so far that Naga has recorded since Mar. 16, 2020,” said Punong Barangay Antonio Beltran of Barangay Bagumbayan Norte who is also the president of the Liga ng mga Barangay.

Beltran said that “although the city is currently under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), there are certain modifications that the city government needs to implement to limit the virus transmission like non-essential gatherings and community assemblies.

Residents of areas under ZCS are discouraged to go outside of their houses unless it will be for very important matters, bakong tanganing makipag-inuman asin magbabad sa iristoryahan, he said. Like basketball games, the LGU also prohibits the operations of cockfighting arenas in the city.

Beltran also reminded his fellow barangay heads not to allow group drinking in their respective areas and constantly inform establishment owners to accommodate customers that will occupy only 50 percent of their sitting capacity.

The Pag-iribang Bantay-Barangay will prohibit persons below 15 years old and above 65 years from going out of their houses unless for matters that are essential or very important.