Screengrab from GMA News
Residents from the city of Lipa in Batangas flocked towards their nearest malls and convenience stores to stock up after their city government announced a citywide lockdown due to the surge in the number of cases in their province that surged past 1,000.
Of the total number of cases at 1,003 as of July 31: 539 have recovered, 45 have died, while active cases remain at 539, as per reports from GMA News.
Lipa City Mayor Eric Africa announced that the city will be reinstating checkpoints at certain areas in the city and that residents will be required to secure passes once again if they need to head out of their homes to head to work or to purchase essentials.
“Base na rin sa clamor ng ating mga kababayan ay muli po nating ibinabalik under lockdown ang lungsod ng Lipa. Ni-rerequire na po muna nating muli ang ating mga kababayan sa barangay na kumuha ng quarantine pass sa barangay para payagan po kayong makalabas at makapag trabaho,” said Africa in his Facebook page.
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The Lipa City mayor furthered that statistics have shown that many among Lipa’s COVID-19 cases as of last month came from individuals who work at areas outside their city.
“Majority na nag-positive nitong last month ay mga workers na nagta-trabaho po outside Lipa. Ito po ang isang bagay na kailangan po nating kontrolin dahil yung mga nag ta-trabaho po sa ibang lugar, ay pag uwi po ng ating bayan ay nahahawaan po nila ang kanilang pamilya,” said Africa.
President Rodrigo Duterte earlier put the entire province of Batangas back to a general community quarantine (GCQ) status as of July 31.
