Gov. Arthur Yap is sending food packs to each family of the two (2) islands now under lockdown. These islands are Malingin in Bien Unido and Guindacpan in Talibon, according to a report from Capitol media released to The Bohol Tribune on Monday, August 17, 2020.
Bien Unido mayor Rene Borinaga placed Malingin Island under lockdown as coronavirus cases have been reported in the island.
Currently, there are 12 active community tranmission cases in the island. There were two (2) previous Covid cases recorded in the same
island that included an elderly who died due to the said disease and a lady who gave birth to twins at the Don Emilio del Valle Memorial Hospital (DEDVMH).
On the other hand, Guindacpan Island is placed under lockdown after a resident who died on Sunday, August 16, 2020 at the Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital, tested positive for Covid.
Talibon mayor Janette Garcia placed the island under lockdown even prior to the release of the polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test result of the late Guindacpan resident.
Aside from the food packs from the provincial government, there are rice packs that will be distributed to each family in Bohol together with the Bohol Card, which is a contact tracing card.
The Philippine National Police and the Philippine Army are in charge in the security around the two (2) islands. Seaborne patrols are being conducted around the two (2) islands to ensure no one enters and exits the islands during the imposition of the lockdown.
According to Capitol media, the population of Malingin Island is about 1.910 persons, while Guindacpan Island has a population of 2,538 persons.
The same report from the Capitol media revealed that the protocols imposed in the islands are similar to an enhanced community quarantine.
Moreover, the two (2) fatalities, one (1) in Malingin and one (1) in Guindacpan both had no travel history. Both were not overseas Filipino workers (OFW) nor locally stranded individuals (LSI).
Bien Unido and Talibon are towns that belong to the second district of Bohol.