North Cotabato clarifies issue on "lockdown" in the province
Local News • 19:30 PM Sun May 2, 2021
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NoCot IATF public statement
Board Member Philbert Malaluan, IATF spokesperson
1. REGARDING "LOCKDOWN" IN COTABATO PROVINCE
The Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (PIATF) will be holding a meeting this Tuesday, May 4, to be presided over by Governor Catamco. This is in light of the recent increase in positive cases in Region 12, and the entry of a COVID-19 variant in General Santos City which is also a part of this region.
The members of the PIATF, including the mayors, provincial heads of national government agencies and heads of Provincial Government offices, will deliberate and forward a recommendation for approval by the Governor.
Among the items to be discussed is the issue as to whether to implement "stricter border control". This includes the possible return of the travel authority and 14-day quarantine requirements for non-APORs, policies on whether to require antigen test results and CCTS cards at the borders, stricter monitoring of cargo & funeral vehicles and more vigorous symptom-checking for all people who enter the existing provincial border checkpoints.
Cotabato Province remains to be classified as under MGCQ status in accordance with President Duterte's orders. Thus, there will be NO "lockdown".
2. REGARDING "MANY UNREPORTED POSITIVE CASES" IN PRES. ROXAS
We can confirm that several individuals have tested positive through rapid antigen test in Pres. Roxas. They have already been isolated and contact tracing is underway.
The DOH does NOT report antigen test positive results. Rather, those who tested positive in rapid tests are again swabbed for RT-PCR confirmatory test.
Those who tested positive in rapid antigen tests in Pres. Roxas have already been swabbed for RT-PCR. We are still awaiting the results.
Please do not believe in chain text messages and fake news. Please read our daily advisory regarding new confirmed cases.