Iloilo gears up for ‘new normal’

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

 

Iloilo province is looking ahead to life after the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19), as Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Wednesday revealed that a new normal Executive Order (EO) is waiting in the wings.

Defensor made the revelation in reaction to Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas’ announcement of installing COVID-19 testing booths at the Iloilo International Airport in Cabatuan.

The governor welcomed Treñas’ move, calling it “good”, while touting the Department of Health’s (DOH) recommendation of conducting Reverse Transcription-Polymerase Chain Reaction (RT-PCR) testing for COVID-19 after four days of arrival.

The province also previously had COVID-19 testing booths installed in the airports.

“That is good, we tried to think about it as well, because what the Department of Health has taught us, which is the practice right now, that it would be better if we let four days pass by before they are swabbed so that we will be able to cover their travel, exposure in the plane, and exposure at the airport, because that is where the events of transmission are. But that is good, because we can be able to manage the opening of the borders and the non-essential and leisure travels,” Defensor said in a press briefing.

The governor said that the EO, which only awaits his signature, will only be signed when it would be considered safe to move to the “new normal.”

This new edict is expected to have several salient provisions, such as inclusion of RT-PCR testing in accommodation packages for tourists.

These test samples would then be examined by the province’s new molecular laboratory at the Iloilo Provincial Hospital in Pototan, Iloilo.

Defensor is also considering using the mobile swabbing facility donated by the Iloilo Science and Technology University (ISAT-U) and the Department of Science and Technology (DOST) to the provincial government.

“For sure, we already have a pending executive order when we open to non-essential and leisure travels. It’s not signed yet, and I will not sign it yet, because that will only be signed when we get to the ‘new normal’. For example, when tourists arrive, their RT-PCR would be included in the hotel package, these will be tested at our new molecular laboratory with a turnaround time of 18 hours, and when they test negative, they can be released for travel,” said the governor.

He also said that the provincial government is also closely monitoring the COVID-19 situation in Metro Manila, where majority of the travelers to Iloilo pass through from other areas of the country.

The province has been under the Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) since June 1 of this year, and it is highly expected to extend further in January 2021.

 

VACCINES

Defensor also said that he has instructed the Provincial Health Office to draft the guidelines for COVID-19 vaccination in the province.

While the provincial government is still waiting for the DOH’s guidelines, the PHO has been drafting its own based on other available vaccines such as for measles and polio.

The governor said he believes that the process of administering the COVID-19 vaccine would be like that of other vaccines.

This includes making the vaccines free to low-income residents of the province and the vulnerable sectors. Persons with higher income will have to pay for their vaccines.

“In my view, when I look at it, these will not different. At least that’s what I think. This is only different because of the scale and the level of the pandemic and the availability of the vaccines. For when the time comes that we do have a vaccine, we would then have guidelines,” Defensor said.

The governor also said that he already has plans to request a supplemental budget next year to buy vaccines that secures government authorization.

As of this writing, the Food and Drug Administration has yet to issue Emergency Use Authorization despite the availability of Pfizer and Moderna vaccines in other countries.