DAVAO CITY, Davao del Sur, Philippines — The city government has appealed to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to declare the city under a stricter quarantine status so it could deal with the surge of COVID-19 cases here. The surge has affected the capacity of the health-care system in the city, including the availability of hospital and quarantine beds. Total COVID-19 cases in the city reached 17,337 on Tuesday, with 1,912 classified as active, the DOH said. The city government earlier placed the Sangguniang Panlungsod (city council) building on lockdown after 10 of its 327 employees tested positive for COVID-19, Mayor Sara Duterte said on Monday. This developed as Northern Mindanao Medical Center, the region’s main COVID-19 referral hospital, declared itself under “code red” as it was now using up to 50 percent of its facilities and services for COVID-19 cases.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer June 02, 2021 21:00 UTC