CITY OF SAN FERNANDO, Pampanga — The provincial government announced the extension of Executive Order (EO) No. 5, which sets stricter quarantine protocols in Pampanga by 10 more days or until April 15.
The EO was originally from 12:01AM of March 20 until 5:00AM of April 5.
Governor Dennis Pineda disclosed that from March 16 to 30, a total of 1,500 COVID-19 cases were recorded in the province which is triple the usual number of cases in the previous weeks.
“This extension is based on the recommendation of the mayors, including the cities of Angeles, San Fernando, and Mabalacat to bring down the number of COVID-19 cases in the province. After April 15, we will assess the situation and hopefully, by then, we will see the impact of our measure,” Pineda said.
Under this, the Governor reiterated the implementation of “house lockdown”, prohibiting Kapampangans to visit other barangays and households.
“It is important to protect our families because as we have seen, most cases infect the whole family or household. The common cause of this is family gatherings,” he said.
Workers are not prohibited from going outside; but reminded those below 18 years old as well as senior citizens to stay home.
Entry and stay of non-residents, even if they are Kapampangans, would require a negative RT-PCR test result covering 72 hours upon arrival in the province.
“I appeal to Kapampangans who no longer reside here to not visit your relatives in the meantime. We don’t know if you are the carrier of the virus, or if you may get the virus here. Vaccines for our senior citizens are coming soon, so let’s just wait until then,” Pineda said.
He also mentioned that liquor ban is still up, while curfew hours remains from 10:00 PM to 5:00 AM.
“Workers are exempted from the curfew as long as they present their company IDs or certificate of employment,” the governor said.
Pineda also reiterated that no family gatherings or any other gatherings will be allowed in the households, and this will be monitored by the barangay officials.
He said these stricter protocols, including the house lockdown, is the most effective way to control local transmission.
Meanwhile, Pineda asked the local police and barangay officials to be strict in implementing the executive order.
“Our cases are no longer a joke. We need to be united. The province needs your help. You need to crack down and arrest all violators,” the governor said.
He also appealed to Kapampangans to communicate properly with officials and uniformed personnel and to not disrespect them because he has strict orders to them to arrest the violators and immediately file cases against them. (
Extended, extended, extended, again at the last minute.
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