‘JUST RIGHT’: Guv comfortable with Iloilo’s current COVID level

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

If Iloilo province would remain under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) this November, the provincial government would no longer appeal to lower the classification amid a downtrend in coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases, according to Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Thursday.

In his regular press conference, Defensor mentioned that most recently, the province has had an Average Daily Attack Rate (ADAR) of 3.45 and a “lower” 2-Week Growth Rate (2WGR).

The Average Daily Attack rate refers to the number of new COVID-19 cases per 100,000 in an area, while the 2WGR refers to the percentage rate in the growth of new COVID-19 case numbers.

“We won’t appeal. For me, the GCQ is just right. GCQ and the lower quarantine classifications don’t have a significant difference if you ask me, and even under GCQ our [ADAR] and [2WGR] are going down. If you compare with the rest of the country, the ones who have [lower ADAR and 2WGR] are the smaller provinces and cities,” Defensor said.

 

He added that he didn’t feel comfortable with the current average of cases, saying that he wishes for the numbers to continue lowering similar to figures from last year.

Data from the Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) as of October 27 indicated that there has been 1,838 COVID cases in this month alone, with an average of 68 cases per day.

It is significantly lower than the number in September (7,864), but is still higher than the number of new cases in the whole month of October 2020 (805, daily average of 26 cases).

The governor wishes for the province to reach November 2020 levels, which logged 525 cases at a daily average of 17 cases according to IPHO data.

“Our daily averages remain the same, so we are not comfortable with that. We haven’t reached the low we want to reach, like that of the end of November last year, almost zero. Our classification was [like a] new normal. We want that,” he remarked.

Similar to his past weeks’ statements, the governor said that he would seek to utilize the downtrend and the “less restrictive” quarantine status to beef up their COVID response capabilities in the event that the disease may surge again.

He previously stated that he expects a surge to happen in late December or early January due to the Christmas holiday season.

Defensor issued Executive Order No. 628 series of 2021 on Wednesday, Oct. 27, to boost COVID vaccination coverage in the 42 municipalities and Passi City.