Zambo now under GCQ

THE NATIONAL government’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has placed Zamboanga City under the General Community Quarantine classification following the dramatic decrease of Covid-19 cases from over 2,800 to about 500 the past two months.

Zamboanga was placed under the stricter Modified General Community Quarantine from May 8 and lasted until end of June due to the sudden surge of Covid-19 cases largely attributed to the South African variant of the deadly virus and aggravated by the continued violations by residents of the public health orders.

Presidential and IATF-MEID spokesman Harry Roque announced this recommendation during President Rodrigo Duterte’s virtual presser on June 28. He said Zamboanga City will be under GCQ until the end of the month.

He said the neighboring province of Zamboanga Sibugay is also placed under GCQ. But Zamboanga del Sur and Zamboanga del Norte have been placed under the Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine until July 15 due to the rising number of Covid-19 infections.

Zamboanga City Mayor Beng Climaco said the local government will continue to implement strict health protocols in an effort to further slow the spread of the deadly respiratory virus, especially now that the Philippines has recorded at least 17 cases of the more contagious Delta or Indian variant of the Covid-19.

“We are happy to note the significant drop in the number of Covid cases na pabor del Dios recorded in the past days although the figure of 500 plus is still considered high. We just have to keep our guards up so we can further reduce the cases.”

“We reiterate our call for everyone to always cooperate with authorities in the implementation of the minimum health standards such as but not limited to the wearing of face masks and face shields, observing social distancing, and hand sanitation under the guidelines of the community quarantine,” she said.

Although the Covid-19 cases have gone down, some areas here are still in so-called granular lockdown due to the high number 0f viral infections. Climaco said the local government continues to provide food aid - rice, canned goods, hygiene kits and vitamins, among others - to families affected by the lockdown.

Mass vaccination is also going on for the A1, A2 and A3 categories as listed in the inoculation priorities of the Department of Health.

A1 refers to workers in frontline services; A2 are the senior citizens and A3 are those with comorbidity or those with more than one disease or condition which is present in the same person at the same time.

The IATF-MEID said it will send more Covid-19 vaccines to Zamboanga City in an effort to further augment and support the local government’s response to the pandemic.

Climaco, who already signed a $2 million (or roughly P100 million) deal with the British-Swedish multinational pharmaceutical company AstraZeneca, said the local government’s vaccination program will cover 694,696 residents or 70% of the projected 2021 population of 992,423 inhabitants.

The initial P200 million for the purchase of the vaccines are included in the P4.38-billion 2021 Executive Budget of the local government, according to Climaco, who said the vaccines are expected to arrive during the 3^rd quarter of the year.

Over 60,000 people here received their first jab while some 17,500 had been fully inoculated, according to local health records. (Zamboanga Post)

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