Bacolod City – Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson called on Negrenses to stop circulating fake news and to ignore speculations that Negros Occidental will be on total lockdown after he and mayors from the province requested to place the province under Modified Community Quarantine status due to the surge in cases of coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.
“Let us erase from our minds that we will go back to a total lockdown,” Lacson said.
He added 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, citing the case in Brgy. Guadalupe, San Carlos City, where only the barangay proper was placed on lockdown after a COVID-19 spreader was pinpointed.
“We cannot afford total lockdown or ECQ,” Lacson said.
The province 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 Sunday.
Earlier, the Western Visayas Inter-Agency Task Force already endorsed the request of Governor Lacson to escalate 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, 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.
The Cordillera Administrative Region, Cagayan, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Batangas, Tacloban, Iligan City, Davao City, Lanao del Sur, and Quezon province have been placed under GCQ.
As of April 10, Negros Occidental had 1,123 Covid active cases, excluding the 431 active cases in Bacolod City.
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., started Monday based on the executive order issued by Lacson during the weekend.
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). (Dolly Yasa via The Daily Guardian (TDG), photo courtesy of TDG)