Mayor Bing Leonardia says Bacolod will follow the National IATF’s recent classification of the city as low-risk area, and shall no longer be under community quarantine, starting May 16, 2020. But it will strictly implement minimum health standards. Post quarantine guidelines will be disclosed to the public prior to said date. In the meantime, the mayor said, wearing of masks, social-distancing, and providing of rubbing alcohol, or hand sanitizers to customers in certain establishments is still in full effect.
Meanwhile, Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson has asked President Rodrigo R. Duterte to extend the general community quarantine (GCQ) in Negros Occidental until May 31.
Lacson appealed to Duterte, who is the overall chairman of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of the Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), after the body issued Resolution 35 on Tuesday, classifying Negros Occidental as a low-risk area and should no longer be under community quarantine after May 15.
“The Province of Negros Occidental is respectfully requesting your good office to extend the GCQ over the province until May 31,” he said in the letter dated May 12, a copy of which was furnished to reporters.
Lacson earlier placed Negros Occidental under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) from March 30 to April 14, and then extended the ECQ until April 30.
Starting May 1, the province shifted to GCQ, based on the IATF classification.
In the letter, Lacson said he is grateful that the IATF-EID has classified Negros Occidental as a low-risk area, which is an acknowledgment of all the efforts of its leaders and stakeholders to succeed in the fight against Covid-19.
He, however, said: “while the Negrenses are all eager to revive the economy and return to the ‘new normal’ at the soonest possible time, (the) enthusiasm has been tempered by the lack of a testing center” in the province.
Lacson added that extending the GCQ in Negros Occidental will enable the province to complete the construction and accreditation of the Covid-19 testing laboratory at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City.
The facility is under Stage 4 of the five-stage accreditation process.
He said Negros Occidental feels vulnerable without a Covid-19 bio-lab, which can screen incoming passengers from neighboring high-risk areas such as Cebu, and the National Capital Region and give reliable results to identify and isolate positive Covid-19 cases.
With the bio-lab, the provincial government can increase its testing capacity and detect Covid-19 infections with dispatch, isolate and treat those affected by the virus, he added.
“I intend to establish a protocol that (will require) all persons entering Negros Occidental (to) be placed in a holding facility for one to two days while tests are conducted and until results are released from our bio-lab,” he added.
Lacson said if the GCQ will not be extended, it will result in the influx of overseas Filipino workers from high-risk areas as returning back to normal ways will result in the opening of seaports and airports in the province.
He cited that five repatriated seafarers who recently arrived in Negros Occidental have tested positive for Covid-19. They are among the seven confirmed cases in the province.
Lacson assured Duterte that once the GCQ in Negros Occidental is extended, safety measures such as border control and modified home quarantine will still be in place to safeguard the health of Negrenses.
(Nanette Guadalquiver ndb via pna)