BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
“Stop misleading and confusing the people,” was the appeal of Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia in a video recorded message yesterday following social media posts that city will be locked down and placed under Enhanced Community Quarantine starting tomorrow, March 30.
Leonardia stressed that Department of Interior and Local Government City Director Ma. Maridith Joy Madayag informed him that Bacolod will be placed under Modified General Community Quarantine effective April 1 by the National Inter-Agency Task Force.
He said it reached his attention that there are people who re-share in their social media accounts a post from a year ago when Bacolod was placed under ECQ to avert the Coronavirus 2019 spread.
Leonardia said that those posts are purely misleading, malicious and fake, adding that it should be stopped especially that we are now facing a pandemic.
As of yesterday, only the provinces of Rizal, Cavite, Laguna and Bulacan and the National Capital Region have been placed under ECQ due to rising Covid cases while other parts of the country including Bacolod and Negros Occidental remain under MGCQ.
“Whether we will retain the MGCQ classification or not in the next coming days depends on us, since the IATF issues our quarantine status based on the city’s actual situation,” Leonardia said.
“If we want to retain our current quarantine status, we should try our best to help one another in pulling down the number of Covid cases in Bacolod by exercising minimum health protocols, he also said.
Meanwhile, the Emergency Operations Center will conduct inspection on various churches and resorts in the city this Holy Week.
This is to ensure that minimum health protocols are being followed in these areas, EOC deputy for medical and data analysis Dr. Chris Sorongon, said.
Sorongon said the EOC met with the officials of the Bacolod Diocese, who assured them that minimum health protocols will be imposed in the churches.
He said that they were also assured that the entry of the church goers will be limited to 50 percent of its total capacity.
Sorongon added that they were informed that there will be no traditional processions while kissing of the religious statues are prohibited, instead the bowing gesture will be encouraged.*
