New ECQ guidelines for Iloilo province

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. issued a memorandum Friday detailing the guidelines for the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the province.

These guidelines pertain to the implementation of Household Quarantine, Public Utilities on Transportation and Public Markets.

Defensor previously issued Executive Order No. 080 on March 19, 2020, placing Iloilo under ECQ until April 14, 2020 in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Under the rules on Household Quarantine, every household shall designate one person who shall be allowed to travel to access basic necessities and/or attend to health needs.

The Municipal Mayor or Punong Barangay will issue the ECQ Pass, which may also be issued to other members of the household who work or engage in business in allowed establishments under the ECQ.

Checkpoints will be mounted at the exit of every barangay or cluster of barangays, called Barangay Exit Points, where ECQ passes will be checked. Persons without ECQ passes will not be allowed to leave the barangay or the barangay cluster.

Scheduled shuttle services to be provided by municipal governments will be stationed at Barangay Exit Points to transport ECQ pass holders to the poblacion or town proper area.

Scheduled shuttle services will also be provided to those who commute daily to Iloilo City.

Public utilities on transportation will still be allowed to operate, subject to the following social distancing measures:

– back riders will not be allowed on motorcycles;

– only two passengers will be allowed on tricycles, one in the front seat, and one on the back seat;

– tricycles shall have dividers made of non-porous material, such as wood or plastic;

– jeepneys will only be allowed to have half of their seating capacity and passengers shall be seated one seat apart;

– for buses, only two people shall be allowed on rows for three passengers, and only one passenger shall be allowed on rows for two passengers;

– passengers shall be seated one seat apart on passenger vans; and

– passengers shall be seated one meter apart on motorized bangkas.

Strict social distancing measures will also be observed in the shuttle services provided by the municipal governments.

Public markets will still be allowed to operate daily, but are also subject to limitations, such as:

– scheduled market days will be suspended;

– only a cluster of barangays will have access to public markets on given days (e.g. District 1 of Janiuay, which has 6 barangays, will have access to public markets on Mondays), with clustering and schedules to be determined by the Municipal Mayor; and

– only residents with ECQ passes will be allowed access on their given days.

As of March 27, 2020, there are three positive cases of COVID-19 in Iloilo, 60 persons under investigation (PUI) and 6,279 persons under monitoring (PUM).

PUIs are persons with signs and symptoms of COVID-19 who have been previously exposed to confirmed cases and/or traveled to infected areas either here or abroad, while PUMs are persons who have no signs and symptoms but have travel history to infected areas and/or have had exposure to PUIs.