Guv awaits national edict on post-GCQ fate

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said on May 27, 2020 that the province will wait for guidance from the national Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Infectious Disease (IATF-MEID) before making any decision on the province’s status upon the expiry of the General Community Quarantine (GCQ) on May 31.

Defensor told Daily Guardian that the province has three possible directions: GCQ, Modified GCQ, or Low-Risk.

“Let’s see first what the quarantine procedures would be. We’re going to have to wait for guidance from the national government on what levels we will implement after the GCQ. Until there haven’t been any guidelines, the possibilities are there, whether we will maintain the GCQ, or we will have a Modified GCQ which we still don’t have guidelines for, or Low-Risk where we will be implementing minimum public health standards,” Defensor said.

The governor said that he will be adjusting his Executive Orders today, May 28, in anticipation of the GCQ lifting.

He said that the province is also finishing its economic recovery plan to help businesses get back up after the Enhanced CQ and the GCQ.

“We will finish our economic recovery program. Right now, we’re still coming up with it together with the Provincial Planning Development Office,” he said.

The province was placed under the GCQ since May 16 via Executive Order No. 118, as it continued to grapple with the effects of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

It was first placed under the more stringent ECQ from March 15 to May 15.

 

COVID-19 TESTING

Defensor also said that they are actively helping boost testing in the province.

To date, the region has only one laboratory fully-accredited by the Department of Health (DOH), which is the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Mandurriao, Iloilo City.

The provincial government has already lent one of its backhoes for the construction of a COVID-19 testing laboratory at the West Visayas State University Medical Center (WVSU-MC) in Jaro, Iloilo City.

The governor said the province will continue to provide assistance to the WVSU-MC wherever it may be needed.

“The WVSU-MC [testing laboratory] is on-going, and we have said at the onset that the province was willing to help with whatever they would need. Based on our latest coordination, the WVSU has the budget to build it but there are some areas we can be able to help them with, so we can be able to help build an additional [testing] facility,” he said.

The governor also said that the procurement process has already started for a new laboratory at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan town.

He had previously stated that the laboratory was in the original plans for the upgrading of the hospital, but was expedited in light of the COVID-19 outbreak.

“We have already started for the procurement process for a new building, and we are speeding it up, at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital that can be a new laboratory for testing. We have also started procurement for materials and equipment, including [Polymerase Chain Reaction machines] so we can add to the testing capacity of the DOH and the WVMC,” he said.

He said that there is no particular date yet for the bidding and the date of completion of the hospital’s new testing center.

Data by the DOH has indicated as of May 27 that Iloilo province has had 20 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with one active case, 15 recoveries, and four deaths.