BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
Negros Occidental will remain under the Modified General Community Quarantine status until April 30, as the province was not included in the re-classification, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced yesterday.
The Western Visayas Inter-Agency Task Force already endorsed the request of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson to place Negros Occidental, from MGCQ to General Community Quarantine, as Covid-19 cases rose from its lowest of 58 two months ago, to 1,123, as of April 10.
Juan Jovian Ingeniero, chairperson of the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force, in RIATF Resolution 005, said that they pose no objection to recommending the request of Negros Occidental for an escalation of the status of community quarantine.
It was not known yet if the NIATF has already deliberated on the request of Lacson after the governor and all mayors of the province decided during a meeting Friday to ask the NIATF to place Negros Occidental under the GCQ.
The Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Viscaya, Batangas, Tacloban, Iligan City, Davao City, Lanao del Sur, and Quezon province have been placed under GCQ.
STOP FAKE NEWS
Lacson has called on Negrenses to stop circulating fake news and to ignore speculations that Negros Occidental will be placed again on total lockdown, following the request for a GCQ.
As of April 10, Negros Occidental had 1,123 Covid active cases, excluding the 431 active cases in Bacolod City.
“Let us erase from our minds that we will go back to a total lockdown,” Lacson said, adding that there is no more Bayanihan funds and aid to local government units.
It will not be a lockdown, like in the Enhanced Community Quarantine, Lacson said. “We will be practicing and encouraging granular lockdown,” he added, and cited the case in Brgy. Guadalupe, San Carlos City, where only the barangay proper has been placed on lockdown after a Covid-19 spreader was pinpointed.
“We cannot afford total lockdown or ECQ,” Lacson said.
Granular lockdowns were also reported in the cities of Kabankalan, Cadiz, Himamaylan, Cauayan and Toboso, while La Carlota City and Isabela barred the entries of ambulant vendors.
The uniform curfew hours all over the province, from 8 p.m. to 4 a.m., will start today, based on the executive order issued by Lacson on Friday.
But EB Magalona went ahead in enforcing the curfew hours on April 10, based on the EO issued by Mayor Marvin Malacon, who said the move aims to contain the spread of the virus.
Only Candoni and Salvador Benedicto towns have zero active cases, as of April 10, the Provincial Incident Management Team reported.
San Carlos City had the most number of active cases with 227, followed by Kabankalan City – 108, and Cadiz City – 101.
The Talisay City Hall will be closed today and tomorrow for disinfection, after an employee assigned at the public market tested positive for Covid-19, Mayor Neil Lizares said.
The Rural Health Unit of Valladolid, including its birthing clinic, had been placed on lockdown since April 10, after two of its midwives were also infected with the virus.
The RHU of Murcia was also temporarily closed until further notice after its health care workers were infected, and contact tracing and disinfection activities are ongoing, the LGU said in an advisory. La Castellana Mayor Rhumyla Nicor-Mangilimutan also ordered a three-day work from home arrangement starting today, and alternative work arrangements on April 15 to 16, for municipal employees.*
