By Joseph B.A. Marzan
Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. on Tuesday clarified that he intends to revert the province to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) after the expiry of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) on April 30, 2020.
Defensor initially placed the province under the GCQ through Executive Order (EO) No. 028-C issued on March 15, 2020 in response to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) crisis.
The GCQ was elevated to ECQ through EO No. 080 issued on March 20, with the expiry date initially set on April 14.
The ECQ was extended to April 30 through EO No. 102 issued on April 8.
Defensor said the new EO on the reversal to GCQ will be finished within the week.
“It should be before April 30. We can finalize it this week, at least until it is implemented, it’s already set in stone. Our direction is that we may modify, we can decrease the features of our [ECQ]. It will not be an [ECQ] anymore. The direction is towards the [GCQ] if we will ever be loosening this. We will be going back to the [GCQ as before], although not exactly [the same as EO No. 028-C],” he said.
Defensor also said that the new EO will depend on COVID-19-related happenings around the province until April 30.
“We are gathering data as to what the premises will be, as we are still crafting the EO, and we are also still waiting for many developments which will steer the direction we are going. First, it will depend as will happen until April 30. Right now, we have 16 positive [COVID-19] cases, with four deceased. This generated contact tracing, so the status right now is that we have hotspots all over the province, and what happens on April 30 will depend on that. The [EO] will heavily depend on that because we will know which quarantine measures and limits will be enforced in the province when ECQ will expire,” he said.
He added that the new order will also depend on the health and economic factors that the province is keenly looking upon.
“There are many things we are looking at, depending on what the province’s economy can carry. I’m now writing the EO. I’ve met yesterday with the Disaster [Risk] Reduction and Management Cluster. We’re trying to lay down the premises as to the status of our COVID-19 cases. We’re looking at the important parts of our economy. We’re looking at the impact of the pandemic on workers’ wages that were lost. We’re looking at the impact of halting public infrastructure programs of the [national] government here in the province. We are waiting for the figures. There are other numbers that have come in, but we are waiting for it to be completed before we can finalize our [EO],” he said.
The governor also said that restrictions on public transportation, including flights to and from Iloilo, may continue during the GCQ.
“The direction is we will maintain the restrictions along the borders of the province because the [ECQ] in Manila is still very prevalent. Although we cannot say that it is final because we are still in the process of finalizing this, that is why we cannot exactly say anything,” he said.
MASS TESTING
EO No. 102 issued by the governor also mandated COVID-19 testing in the province, with priority on vulnerable persons, frontliners, and suspect and probable cases.
The governor said that mass testing has started for suspect and probable cases under the guidelines of the Department of Health (DOH).
“We’ve started testing of suspect and probable cases under the DOH guidelines. That means, that when someone is tested, the [Barangay Health Emergency Response Team] starts monitoring them. Every person with a symptom must be tested. The priority is [determined] through contact tracing. Those in the frontlines and those showing symptoms should be the ones tested first because for that purpose, we have test kits provided by the DOH,” he said.
Defensor said mass testing in the province was not viable because of the capacity of the Western Visayas Medical Center (WVMC) in Iloilo City.
“Our problem is with our testing facility because it cannot produce results quickly. It takes seven days to get the result. That’s the status of our mass testing. Right now, it’s not viable to test everybody, because that doesn’t seem possible, so we depend on the results of contact tracing. Those who are at high risk will be tested immediately and it starts there,” he said.
WVMC is the only facility in Region 6 that has been fully accredited by the DOH as a COVID-19 testing facility.
“It will continue even after April 30, depending on the status of our positive cases. But even, for example, the cases lessen or almost entirely gone, our follow-through will take months. We will continue mass testing so we can monitor,” he said.
Data from the DOH has indicated that as of 8 a.m. of April 21, Iloilo has 18 confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 11 active cases, three recoveries and four deaths.
