Iloilo City slides to GCQ on Oct. 1

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Less than a week after upgrading its community quarantine (CQ) status, Iloilo City will shift to a “more permissive” General CQ tomorrow, Oct. 1, 2020.

This was announced by Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III during President Rodrigo Duterte’s weekly briefings on the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) on Monday evening.

Iloilo City joins Bacolod City and other areas in the country such as the National Capital Region, Batangas province, Tacloban City, and Iligan City, under areas which will be placed under GCQ for the whole month of October.

The city had just been placed under Modified Enhanced CQ on Sept. 25 via Resolution No. 74 of the national Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID), where Duque is chairperson.

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas issued Executive Order No. 149 on Sept. 24 in anticipation of the IATF-MEID resolution.

On Sept. 26, the city government announced that it would request to revert to GCQ, however on Sept. 28, the city’s COVID-19 Task Force spokesperson Jeck Conlu said they withheld their letter of request.

“Para po sa Iloilo City, ang previous classification nila na MECQ ay ipapatupad na lamang hanggang sa katapusan ng September. Ang kanilang bagong classification na GCQ ay ipapatupad mula sa October 1 at batay na rin sa updated data at rekomendasyon ng kanilang pamunuang lungsod,” Duque said during the briefing with the President.

Under the IATF-MEID’s Omnibus Guidelines, areas under GCQ should observe the following protocols:

– compliance with minimum health standards (wearing of masks and face shields, and observance of 1-meter social distance);

– limitation of movement to accessing essential goods and services, and for work in offices and industries permitted to operate;

– persons aged below 21 years and above 60 years, those with immunodeficiency, comorbidity, or other health risks, and pregnant women, including any person who resides with them, will be required to stay at home;

– work in all government offices may be at full operational capacity or under alternative work arrangements in accordance with rules and regulations issued by the Civil Service Commission (CSC), provided that for offices requiring employees to report physically, commissioned shuttle services or point-to-point transportation may be provided to them;

-accredited diplomatic missions and international organizations may operate at fifty percent capacity;

-limited allowed operations in malls and shopping centers;

-all public and private construction projects will be allowed, but with strict compliance to construction safety guidelines issued by the Department of Public Works and Highways (DPWH);

-amusement, gaming, and fitness establishments, as well as those in the children’s leisure and the tourism industries, are still prohibited;

-mass gatherings will only be allowed for up to 10 persons; and

– outdoor non-contact sports and other forms of exercise such as walking, jogging, running, biking, golf, swimming, tennis, badminton, equestrian, range shooting, skateboarding, and others are allowed.

The following establishments will be allowed to operate under the GCQ, according to the IATF-MEID guidelines:

-power, energy, water, and other utilities, agriculture, fishery, and forestry industries, food manufacturing and food supply chain businesses, including food retail establishments such as supermarkets, grocery stores, and food preparation establishments (take-out and delivery only), food delivery services, health-related establishments, the logistics sector, information technology and telecommunication companies, the media, at full operational capacity;

-mining and other manufacturing, and electronic commerce companies, as well as other delivery, repair and maintenance, and housing and office services, at anywhere between 50 percent up to full operational capacity; and

-financial services, legal and accounting, and auditing services, professional, scientific, technical, and other non-leisure services, barbershops and salons and other non-leisure wholesale and retail establishments, from skeleton workforce to 50 percent operational capacity.

In a phone interview with Daily Guardian, Treñas welcomed the decision of the IATF-MEID, and said that they will implement protocols based on the IATF-MEID’s Omnibus Guidelines.

“We have no problem with [the shift to GCQ]. I think the people of Iloilo City are ready to go back to something that’s less strict. We will only implement what is stated in the IATF’s Omnibus Guidelines,” Treñas said.

The mayor did not state whether he was open to reverting again to a stricter status should COVID-19 cases in the city rise further.

But the city government will be implementing “surgical lockdowns” in barangays where COVID-19 cases will surge.

The mayor reiterated that the city government did withhold their request for the GCQ.

The mayor on Tuesday issued EO No. 151, which placed several zones in 23 barangays under hard lockdown.

These surgical lockdowns started at 6 p.m. yesterday, Sept. 29, until 6 p.m. on Oct. 2.

He added that the barangays will only be placed under total lockdown when the number of cases in a barangay rises even further.

“We didn’t send the request to the IATF for the GCQ. We will just have to live with this virus. If cases rise, we will have more surgical lockdowns, for the rest, they can go out. For as long as there is no vaccine, we will have to expect, at certain times, cases will go up. When the cases spread outside the zone, then we will implement a total lockdown of the barangay,” the mayor said.