CEBU, Philippines — While cargo trucks are still allowed to hit the streets to keep the supply chain going, delivery drivers and their helpers coming from Medellin town in northern Cebu will no longer be allowed to go home once their jobs take them to areas “infected” with the coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
Medellin Mayor Joven Mondigo, in an interview with CDN Digital, said the delivery drivers and their helpers who would have traveled to the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu will already be housed in the isolation centers that will be opened in each of their barangay once they come home from their trips.
As of Tuesday, April 21, 2020, Mandaue City already has nine confirmed cases of COVID-19; Cebu City has the highest number of cases at 173; while Lapu-Lapu City has reported 13 cases.
Medellin is located some 117 kilometers north of Cebu City.
Medellin Mayor Joven Mondigo issues a memorandum regulating delivery drivers and crew as they continue to operate during the ECQ.
Mondigo said the move is meant to pacify the fear of some residents that the continuous travel of delivery drivers and their helpers to cities that now have the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Cebu will eventually bring the infection to their communities.
“First, di man ta kabawal pag-anha sa city to safeguard food security. Gimando man ni sa province ug sa national nga makabyahe ning mga cargo trucks pero para pod pag-safeguard sa lungsod, kini nga naay mga exposure atong gihangyo [to continue but] under this regulation,” Mondigo told CDN Digital via phone.
(We cannot prohibit them from traveling to the city to ensure food security. Both the provincial and national governments allow cargo trucks to continue to operate but in order to protect our town, we appeal that those who have been exposed [during their travels] will have to comply with our regulation.)
The municipality has already entered into a memorandum of agreement with the Department of Education (DepEd) which allows them to use the public schools in each barangay as isolation centers.
In a memorandum to the barangay captains, Mondigo enjoined the village officials to inform the delivery workers and businesses in their areas and enforce this regulation.
“Dili na sila pwede nga mouli sa kada pamilya o maggawas-gawas aron masiguro nga malikayan ang COVID-19. Apan makapadayon gihapon sila sa pag-drive o pag-adto sa syudad aron madeliver o magkuha sa ilang kargamento,” Mondigo said in the memorandum.
(They will no longer be allowed to go home to their families or loiter outside to prevent the spread of COVID-19 but they will still be allowed to drive going to the cities to deliver or pick-up their cargos.)
The delivery drivers and helpers will live in the isolation centers while the province-wide enhanced community quarantine is in effect. / dcb