Guimaras restricts travel amid MECQ in Iloilo City

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Guimaras also clamped down on non-essential travel to and from the province after its closest neighbor Iloilo City imposed border lockdown due to a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases,

Even before the imposition of the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ0 on Iloilo City, Guimaras Governor Samuel Gumarin on May 17 issued Executive Order (EO) No. 19, cancelling its annual Manggahan Festival and prohibiting mass gatherings in the province.

Non-essential travels to and from the island province for both residents and non-residents have also been discouraged.

According to the EO’s text, this was due to 24 new cases as confirmed by the Provincial Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (PESU) on May 16.

Vice-Governor John Edward Gando told Aksyon Radyo that the local leaders, including Gumarin and the municipal mayors, decided to narrow travels to and from Iloilo City only for essential purposes.

Gando said that this also complements the city’s shift to MECQ, which started on May 23 and until May 31.

The city also enforced border restrictions starting May 26.

He added that the provincial government aimed to “avoid an embarrassing scenario” where their residents would be sent back from the city.

“The purpose of this is to complement the shift in status of the Iloilo City Government. One of the aims of this is also to avoid an awkward situation, where people, when arriving there would be sent back because of non-essential purposes,” Gando said.

He also cited their observation that the progression of Iloilo City’s COVID-19 situation has a significant influence on their situation since the city is the primary gateway to the island.

“Based on our experience, usually when there is a surge in cases in the neighboring LGUs, more particularly with the city government, we notice that our numbers also move. This is probably because of the proximity of the province of Guimaras to the city of Iloilo and the neighboring provinces. Majority of our daily livelihoods also depend on the city of Iloilo, as well as for our needs as our workers go there and return,” Gando said.

Despite its lower COVID-19 numbers compared to the rest of the region, Gando said the province is not being complacent, citing its measures being anchored on the Omnibus Guidelines of the national Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of the Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-MEID).

Guimaras is currently under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), but the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD) on Monday cited the island as one of the “High Risk” areas based on its recent COVID-19 figures.

DOH-WV CHD data on May 23 indicated that Guimaras’ 2-Week Growth Rate (2WGR) was at 311 percent in the past 1 to 2 weeks, and its Average Daily Attack Rate (ADAR) was at 2.83 in the last 2 weeks.

The 2WGR refers to the difference in the volume of cases in an area within a two-week period, while the ADAR refers to the number of cases in an area over a two-week period per 100,000 population, divided by its total population.

“Although our quarantine status continues to be under [MGCQ], but still, pursuant to the issuances of the [IATF-MEID], mass gatherings are still prohibited. What we did is anchor our issuances on the general guidelines on mass gatherings, the capacity in our establishments are still at 50 percent,” he said.

Data by the PESU as of May 25 showed that Guimaras has had 504 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 74 active cases, 422 recoveries, and 8 deaths.

The provincial capital Jordan has had the most number of active cases with 33, followed by Buenavista (33), Nueva Valencia (10), San Lorenzo (5), and Sibunag (2), which are all categorized as local transmissions.