Manila on Wednesday started the distribution of food boxes for two barangays and two hotels that were placed under lockdown due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in the capital city.
Manila Mayor Francisco “Isko Moreno” Domagoso said around 2,000 families from Barangay 351, which covers San Lazaro and Tayuman, and Barangays 699 and 725 in Malate, would receive the food boxes containing rice, canned goods, and coffee.
“Many people are losing their jobs and businesses are shutting down, and hunger will be a huge impact on our city’s residents,” the mayor said in a statement.
“Many were saying ‘We will not die of COVID but we will die of hunger.’ We will make sure that no one in the city will go hungry,” Domagoso said.
The villages were placed under a four-day lockdown earlier this week after Barangay 351 logged 12 active cases while Barangay 725 recorded 14.
In Barangay 699, the Malate Bayview Mansion, with 14 cases, and Hop Inn Hotel, with three cases, were also placed under lockdown because of the reported infections.