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Timeline
The COVID-19 pandemic in Lanao del Sur is part of the worldwide pandemic of  coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19)   caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome   coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The virus reached Lanao del Sur on March 11, 2020, when the first case of the disease was confirmed. The first overall COVID-19 case in  Mindanao   is a resident of   Lanao del Sur   who went home from   San Juan ,   Metro Manila. The case was that of a 54-year-old man who was admitted at the Adventist Medical Center in his home province and was referred to the Northern Mindanao Medical Center on March 8, a health facility outside the region in  Cagayan de Oro   after he is suspected to have COVID-19. The case was confirmed on March 11. The man had no known travel history abroad and was suspected to have contracted the disease while he was in Metro Manila. The patient died on March 13 becoming the first COVID-19 death outside Metro Manila. The province later reported additional cases. A leaked advisory from the Bangsamoro regional government dated April 1, listed  Lanao del Sur   and   Marawi   as one of the areas in the whole country to "with local transmission/under enhanced community quarantine". The region's Ministry of Health later issued a clarification that the document is still unofficial and not final and dispelled rumors arising from the leak that the two localities have already have local transmission of COVID-19.

Response
The  Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases   (IATF-EID) of the Philippine national government in April 2020, has appointed   Bangsamoro     Chief Minister     Murad Ebrahim   to lead the regional inter-agency task group for Bangsamoro. The Bangsamoro regional government has allotted at least ₱1.9 billion for its response against the COVID-19 pandemic in the region. In March 2020,  Lanao del Sur   and   Marawi   were placed under   enhanced community quarantine   (ECQ). Tawi Tawi  and   Cotabato City   were likewise placed under ECQ by April 2020. The whole of Bangsamoro transitioned to a general community quarantine on May 1 with request to extend ECQ imposition in Lanao del Sur and Marawi rejected by the national IATF-IED.

Hospital equipment
“In the whole region, only three (3) ventilators are available, and these are all in Maguindanao Provincial Hospital,” BARMM’s Minister of Health Dr. Saffrullah Dipatuan said during a virtual press briefing here Wednesday, April 15, 2020. A  ventilator   is a machine necessary for treating Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who suffer from severe pneumonia or Acute Respiratory Distress Syndrome (ARDS).

Testing and quarantine facilities
The  Cotabato Regional Medical Center   in Cotabato City has a reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing facility which test suspected COVID-19 cases in the Bangsamoro and   Soccsksargen   regions. The Bangsamoro regional government has provided ₱14 million aid to the hospital to fund the upgrade of its laboratory and training of its staff. The hospital received accreditation to conduct test in May 2020. The Bangsamoro region's  Ministry of Health   and   Ministry of Public Works   has constructed a 100-bed capacity COVID-19 isolation facility near the Cotabato Sanitarium Hospital in   Sultan Kudarat ,   Maguindanao. Another facility is being set up in Datu Blah Sinsuat Hospital The capacity of the region's isolation facilities across all of its five provinces is 4,360 beds.

Parliament sessions
When the  Bangsamoro Parliament   resumed its session on June 16, 2020, some of its members participated via video conferencing and those who were physically present wore masks and observed social distancing by seating two seats apart from each other.

Religious sector
Muslim worship in the province has been affected by the pandemic. The  Regional Darul Ifta' of Bangsamoro   has suspended all congregational prayers in the Bangsamoro region from March 19 to April 10, 2020. The Islamic advisory body has also issued a  fatwa   further suspending congregational prayers in mosques during the whole   Ramadan   period and has advised Muslims to hold Taraweeh prayers in their residences. The Darul Ifta' released another advisory clarifying that congregational prayers are still suspended even as the whole province was placed under general community quarantine starting May 1. The suspension on congregational prayers were provisionally lifted from June 1 to 15, provided that mosques will be used 50 percent of its capacity at most per prayer session.