By Dolly Yasa
BACOLOD City – With his appeal to slide down from General Community Quarantine (GCQ) to a more permissive Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) status still awaiting approval, Mayor Evelio Leonardia issued on Oct 31, 2020 Executive Order No. 70 extending the GCQ in the city from Nov 1 to 30.
Meanwhile, Negros Occidental Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson issued on Oct 30 Executive Order No. 20-47 series of 2020 also extending the MGCQ in the province for the same period.
In his EO, Leonardia cited the creation of the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC) pursuant to the advice of national officials from the Office of the President and Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID).
The EOC helped implement a similar and successful strategy employed in the City of Cebu in combating the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Leonardia said that the immediate actions taken by the EOC “have gained favorable results and progressive momentum that, at present, the number of new/additional COVID-19 positives per day was substantially reduced over the past few weeks from low triple-digits to low double-digit figures based on the official statistical data of the EOC in coordination with the local and regional offices of the Department of Health.”
“The focused anti-COVID response and hard work of the EOC, through the committed effort and leadership of Major Gen. (ret.) Melquiades Feliciano and his Health Consultant-Spouse Mia Feliciano, as implementers from the National IATF, had indisputably benefitted Bacolod City and its neighboring LGUs in containing the spread of the COVID-19 infection; thus, providing the promising outlook that Bacolod City shall be able to transition to the ‘new normal’ in the soonest possible time,” Leonardia said.
Leonardia said he made an appeal to the National IATF, through the intercession of Feliciano, that Bacolod City shall be categorized under MGCQ starting Nov 1, 2020.
But the National IATF maintained Bacolod City under GCQ status, “understandably, to ensure the stability of the momentum and to preserve the gains derived from the recent substantial reduction of COVID-19 infections in the community and among its constituents.”
The present EOCTF shall continue to serve as the focal point in targeting the hot spots of COVID-19 spread and contamination.
Leonardia earlier said that he is still “fighting” for the de-escalation from GCQ to MGCQ status of the city.
He said the number of COVID-19 cases in the city significantly went down from a peak of 1,176 active cases in September to 253 as of this writing.
Leonardia said it is high time to ease the quarantine status of the city.
For his part, Lacson said Negros Occidental has 4,451 confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Oct 26.
“Because of the rising number of COVID cases in our country, there is still a need to place the province of Negros Occidental under MGCQ,” Lacson said.
