Negros Oriental officials leading the fight against the coronavirus disease 2019 have called out to residents to cooperate with authorities, and strictly adhere to the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) guidelines and protocols.
The appeal came after Presdent Duterte placed Negros Oriental under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine from June 16-30, to quell the rising cases of COVID 19 here in the Province.
Capitol spokesperson for Covid-19 and Public Information Officer Bimbo Miraflor said in a virtual press briefing that he hoped to see more cooperation now “kay mao na ni ang resulta sa atong pagpabaya (because this is now the result of our recklessness) and now we are under MECQ”.
“We hope to see that in the next 13 days of MECQ, we will instill in our minds and hearts that we should cooperate and help each other because the prevention of the spread of Covid-19 is a shared responsibility,” he said.
For her part, Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion, CoViD-19 incident commander of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, said, “The cry of all frontliners is for people to stay put because we want to contain the virus.”
“I hope people will understand the plight of the health workers because once we are overwhelmed, what will happen to all of us?,” she further said.
Estacion stressed the need for people to cooperate because it is sad when a family member is turned away from a hospital because there is no more room to accommodate that person.
The Governor issued a new Executive Order on the new quarantine status, last Thursday, adopting the guidelines laid out by the National Inter-Agency Task Force.
The MECQ was imposed as the Province continues to cope with the surge in Covid-19 cases which sent medical doctors practically begging people to stay at home to avoid the “collapse of the health system” here.
Public clamor for stricter regulations and border control mounted as cases continued to spike without let-up, causing hospitals to overflow with Covid-19 patients.
The OCTA Research Team had also tagged Dumaguete as “extremely high risk” for CoViD-19 while health authorities named Negros Oriental as the “epicenter” in Region 7 (Central Visayas).
Meanwhile, Nimfa Virtucio, provincial head of the Department of Trade & Industry, appealed to the public to avoid panic buying, as establishments offering essential goods and services will be allowed to operate throughout the MECQ provided they abide by the health protocols and guidelines.
On the other hand, Dumaguete Bishop Julito Cortes, in a letter to the clergy and consecrated persons dated June 15, announced the prohibition of choir singing in daily, Sunday, and funeral masses and other liturgical celebrations.
Singing in fiestas and weddings may be allowed only in some parts of the mass, to shorten the exposure of people to the risk of coronavirus, Cortes said.
In the meantime, flights to and from the Sibulan-Dumaguete airport continue, with no announcements as yet of cancellations, said Mark Diamaoden, airport manager and chief of the local Civil Aviation Authority of the Philippines.
Miraflor said other prohibitions and requirements already being undertaken during the MGCQ will continue, such as border control, unless otherwise stipulated in a new executive order.
In an earlier press conference, Governor Degamo said the request of the Dumaguete City Council for a higher quarantine status through a resolution coursed through the provincial and regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases last week, will have to be forwarded to the national government which has the authority to approve it or not.
He said he does not believe an ECQ implementation would solve the problem of CoViD-19 spike in the Province. Negros Oriental could not afford to place the Province in total lockdown or ECQ because the economy and many people would be affected, especially the daily wage earners, he continued.
Meanwhile, the Silliman University Medical Center Foundation Inc. assured that despite its shortage in beds for CoViD-19 cases and other illnesses, it has home referral services where doctors may visit patients at their residences.
Dr. Rowena Samares, chairperson of the SUMC CoViD Occupational Safety &Health, said the services were offered even before the current surge of cases in Negros Oriental these past several weeks. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
