BY MARCHEL P. ESPINA
The Silay City government will implement starting today a 14-day “zoning containment strategy” of City Hall offices for disinfection, sanitation, and decontamination to further prevent the spread of coronavirus disease 2019.
This as Mayor Mark Golez confirmed that a 64-year-old female employee at the Civil Registrar’s Office succumbed to the virus yesterday.
Golez said the employee, who was set to retire next year, had given 46 years of her life to serve the community selflessly, adding that she entered government service at 18 years old.
He added that two employees of the City Engineer’s Office and one from the City Health Office also tested positive for COVID-19.
He said the CEO employees and the fatality had direct contact with almost all employees in their offices.
These offices were placed under lockdown for one week, he said.
Under a special executive order he signed yesterday, Golez said the zoning containment strategy will apply to all departments, divisions, offices, and units of the city government until September 9.
In the EO, Golez also said that several employees and workers in the City Hall, City Treasurer’s Office, City Business Licenses and Permits Office, Personnel Division, and the Public Employment Services have “started manifesting symptoms of Covid-19”.
He said that during the containment period, the CHO together with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office, and the Silay Covid-19 Task Force will conduct an extensive contact tracing of all affected personnel as well as disinfect the affected areas.
Golez said no person will be allowed to enter the affected areas, except for city government employees, including job order personnel, who will form part of the skeletal workforce.
He also said that officials, employees, and affected workers are required to undergo strict home quarantine for the period and to comply with the required minimum health and safety standards.
He added that a work-from-home and on-call skeletal workforce arrangement will be implemented to facilitate urgent and critical transactions and to ensure the unhampered delivery of services.
Golez said the police, with the assistance of concerned barangays, will strategically establish a barangay control point to ensure the strict implementation of the zoning strategy.
He clarified that the EO is not a declaration of a lockdown of the whole city, but a zoning containment, with city government employees of non-essential offices working from home while maintaining a skeletal workforce for offices with vital functions.
He reiterated that this is to give ample time for extensive contact tracing and disinfection of City Hall offices.*
