Mayor appeals city’s Alert Level 3 status

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas wants the city to slide to a lower alert level after its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection indicators declined in recent weeks.

Treñas issued Executive Order No. 132, series of 2021 on Tuesday, Nov 2, implementing the Alert Level 3 status on the city.

But in a letter dated Oct 30 sent to Daily Guardian on Nov. 2, Treñas told the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) and the National Task Force against COVID-19 that he wanted the city to go down to Alert Level 2.

Based on the data he presented, Treñas said the city should be under Alert Level 1, but he preferred to place the city under Alert level 2.

The data Treñas cited are from the situational report of the Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-WV CHD), which included new COVID cases logged from Oct. 15 to 28.

The 2-Week Growth Rate (2WGR), which refers to the growth rate in percentage of new COVID cases, is down to negative 50 percent, while the Average Daily Attack Rate (ADAR), which is the 2-week average of new cases in an area per 100,000 is at 4.58.

From the DOH-WV CHD data on the ADAR and the 2WGR, Iloilo City would be at “Low Risk” for COVID-19.

As of Oct 28, the city’s Health Care Utilization Rate, which refers to the number of COVID-dedicated beds and mechanical ventilators, went down to 44 percent.

Treñas also cited the city’s COVID vaccination rate, which he said is now up to 88 percent coverage, based on the DOH-WVV CHD’s estimates.

“The exemplary performance of the Iloilo City Vaccination Team and the high level of vaccine confidence of the constituents are at par even with the requirements of an Alert Level 1 classification,” Treñas said in his letter.

Last Oct 29, the national IATF-MEID placed the city under Alert Level 3 until Nov 14.

The new alert level was a departure from the old community quarantine system, which the city government had been implementing for 590 days since it implemented the Enhanced Community Quarantine starting on March 20, 2020.

A lower alert level status means lesser restrictions in a local government unit.