City, province implement Holy Week measures

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

The leaders of the city and province of Iloilo issued new Executive Orders this week in time for the Lenten season in their continued response to the rise in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas issued EO No. 029-A s. 2021 on Tuesday, amending EO. No. 029 issued on March 28, 2021, providing additional measures to address the current surge in COVID-19 cases in the city.

Data from the Iloilo City Health Office’s City Epidemiological Surveillance Unit indicated that as of March 29, the city has been seeing a daily average of 15 cases in March, a 66.67 percent increase from 9 cases per day in February.

The new EO included several provisions such as:

-reiteration of encouragement of alternative work arrangements for private establishments;

-50 percent capacity in Iloilo City Government offices until April 7, 2021;

-protocols for establishments’ staff houses, protocols for workers with flu-like symptoms, and increased vigilance at home.

Non-essential gatherings are likewise continued to be restricted at 30 percent of the total venue capacity or 50 individuals, whichever would be lower, and a 50 percent capacity limitation on religious gatherings.

District Health Offices are open from Mondays to Fridays, from 8:30 a.m. to 4:30 p.m., with a cut-off time of accepting patients at 4:00 p.m., to allow for daily disinfection of office premises.

Holy Week-specific provisions of the new EO include temporary suspension of operations of beaches, resorts, waterparks, and game arcades in the city, which were supposed to run only until 11:59 p.m. on Easter Sunday, April 4, 2021, but have now been extended to April 7 in the amended EO.

The amended EO now also specified that this will only concern the use of swimming amenities in hotels and resorts.

Meanwhile, in Iloilo province, Defensor has repeatedly stated that there will be no new orders for the Holy Week, instead opting to follow the provisions of EO No. 183 s.2020, as amended.

But on Tuesday the governor issued EO No. 114 s.2021, ordering the suspension of operation in tourism, recreation, and accommodation establishments in the province, and prohibiting swimming in public beaches and inland waters, from April 1 (Maundy Thursday) to April 4 (Good Friday).

Basic board and lodging services such as rooms and meals may still be provided by tourism, recreation, and accommodation establishments to Authorized Persons Outside their Residence (APOR) and Returning or Repatriated Overseas Filipinos (ROF) returning to their places of residence, and returning residents.

Data by the Iloilo Provincial Health Office as of March 29 indicated that the province is also experiencing a high in daily average of COVID-19 cases, with an average of 28.93 cases per day in March 2021, a slight but significant uptick from 28.50 in February.

The new EO is an addition to the outstanding health protocols implemented by the province via EO No. 183 s.2020, as amended.

Under the EO No. 183, family gatherings are only allowed for immediate family members, and religious gatherings are only allowed for 30 percent seating capacity and persons shall be seated 2 meters apart.

In a press briefing, Defensor clarified that they will only prohibit recreational and leisure facilities in the resorts in anticipation of an influx in visitors for the Holy Week weekend.

“We just had the recreation and leisure portions closed because we will have a long holiday, and we may be expecting a surge in people circulation in our resorts, which is not good for us considering that we have this situation right now. We didn’t have them fully closed, we just made sure that we would stop the part where people swarm,” Defensor said in a press briefing.