City IMT recommends extension of ECQ in Naga
NAGA CITY, Apr. 27 (PIA) –City Mayor Nelson Legacion sent a communication to the Office of the President thru the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) requesting to extend the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) until May 15.
This, after the IATF announced the lifting of the ECQ in some parts of the country, including the province of Camarines Sur and directed some LGUs to have a smooth transition from ECQ to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) effective May 1.
The Naga City COVID-19 Incident Management Team enacted on Apr. 24, Resolution No. 2020-003 recommending to President Rodrigo Duterte and to the IATF-EID, the extension of ECQ in Naga City up to May 15.
The recommendation was made due to the emergence of two (2) new cases of COVID-19 in the city as of Apr. 22, making five (5) of the seven (7) recorded cases of COVID-19 in the entire Province of Camarines Sur coming from the city, with an unfortunate case of death of a patient.
The resolution which was signed by IMT Commander Renne Gumba and its general staff, approved by Legacion also states that when ECQ is lifted in the city, which is the regional center of commerce, education and culture, it is expected that people from other municipalities and provinces in Bicol will come to Naga, increasing further the risk of having a resurgence of COVID-19 infection in the city, in particular, and in Bicol, in general.
The recommendation was also made in comparison to Catanduanes, an island-province in Bicol with only one (1) recorded COVID-19 case been deemed by the IATF-EID to be a high-risk area and has been declared to be under ECQ until May 15, 2020.
Under the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) or relaxed quarantine measures, starting May 1, areas identified as low and moderate-risk in the spread of COVID-19 shall observe the following: Select workers will be allowed to go out and work in phases; those aged below 21 and above 60, and high health risk individuals shall continue to stay at home; partial opening of non-leisure shops and malls.
But there are other directives under the ECQ which will remain: mandatory temperature check, mandatory wearing of masks and mandatory use of alcohol. There will be resumption of priority and essential construction projects, resumption of public transportation at a reduced capacity, curfew for non-workers and continued unhampered movement of goods.
Believing that the spread of COVID-19 in this city is not yet in the deceleration or slowing stage, and that the city cannot yet be considered as a moderate or low-risk area, which therefore will require the imposition of strict controls on people’s mobility, Legacion hopes that the IATF will give a “go” to their request to extend ECQ in Naga City until May 15. (JRM-PIAV/Camarines Sur)
source https://pia.gov.ph/news/articles/1040273