DUMAGUETE CITY – Negros Oriental officials leading the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) on Tuesday called out to residents to cooperate with authorities and strictly adhere to the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) guidelines and protocols.
The appeal came as various sectors were preparing for the implementation of the MECQ that takes effect June 16-30, as ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte on Monday night.
Capitol spokesperson for Covid-19 and Public Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor said in a virtual press briefing that he hoped to see more cooperation now “kay mao na ni ang resulta sa atong pagpabaya (because this is now the result of our recklessness) and now we are under MECQ”.
“We hope to see that in the next 13 days of MECQ, we will instill in our minds and hearts that we should cooperate and help each other because the prevention of the spread of Covid-19 is a shared responsibility,” he said.
Gov. Roel Degamo, he said, is hopeful that politics will not come into play in the fight against Covid-19.
For her part, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, Covid-19 incident commander of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said in mixed English and Cebuano dialect that “I think that is the cry of all front-liners for people to stay put because we want to contain the virus”.
“I hope people will understand the plight of the health workers because once we are overwhelmed, what will happen to all of us?” she further said.
Estacion stressed the need for people to cooperate because it is sad when a family member is turned away from a hospital because there is no more room to accommodate that person.
Miraflor said the provincial IATF is awaiting a new executive order to be signed by the governor on the new quarantine status, “but we will pattern it after the NIATF guidelines although we are given the discretion to improvise or add or localize certain provisions according to the needs of the province or the local government units”.
The MECQ was imposed as the province continues to cope with the surge in Covid-19 cases which sent medical doctors practically begging people to stay at home to avoid the “collapse of the health system” here.
Public clamor for stricter regulations and border control mounted as cases continued to spike without let-up, causing hospitals to overflow with Covid-19 patients.
The OCTA Research Team had also tagged Dumaguete City as “extremely high risk” for Covid-19 while health authorities named Negros Oriental as the “epicenter” in Region 7 or Central Visayas.
Meanwhile, Nimfa Virtucio, provincial head of the Department of Trade and Industry, appealed to the public to avoid panic buying, as establishments offering essential goods and services will be allowed to operate throughout the MECQ provided they abide by the health protocols and guidelines.
On the other hand, Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes, in a letter to the clergy and consecrated persons dated June 15, announced the prohibition of choir singing in daily, Sunday, and funeral masses and other liturgical celebrations.
Singing in fiestas and weddings may be allowed only in some parts of the mass to shorten the exposure of people to the risk of coronavirus, Cortes said.
In the meantime, flights to and from the Sibulan-Dumaguete airport continue with no announcement as yet of cancellation, Mark Diamaoden, airport manager and chief of the local Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines said.
Miraflor said other prohibitions and requirements already being undertaken during the MGCQ will continue, such as border control, unless otherwise stipulated in a new executive order.
Degamo’s latest EO is expected by the end of this day or by Wednesday, Miraflor said
Source: Philippines News Agency
