THE LOCAL government is considering further easing the movement restrictions for residents and travelers in the city as the number of new coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infections here continued to decrease.
City Mayor Ronnel Rivera said the move was in line with their request to the national government to downgrade the city’s Covid-19 control measures, which remained on Wednesday under the general community quarantine (GCQ).
He said they have asked the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to place the city under modified GCQ due to the declining cases and the increasing number of vaccinated individuals.
“If the national government will allow that, the local IATF and the local government could relax the Covid restrictions to help our economy,” Rivera said in a statement.
The city and other parts of Region 12 (Soccsksargen) were placed anew by the IATF under GCQ until the end of November through Resolution No. 146-A.
The Department of Health (DOH) 12 classified the city as a low-risk area for Covid-19 since last month due to the continuing decrease in new cases.
The agency only reported five new infections in the area on Tuesday, while the recoveries reached a total of 54, further lowering the active cases to just 240 after peaking at over 1,000 in September.
The confirmed cases in the city since last year have reached 13,985, with 530 related deaths and 13,215 recoveries.
Due to the improved situation, the city council recommended to the local government through an ordinance passed on Tuesday the immediate lifting of the prevailing 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. curfew.
City Councilor Franklin Gacal Jr., the author of the measure, said in an interview on Wednesday the move was only appropriate since the city was already under low-risk status for Covid-19.
“It’s time to ease our restrictions to allow more economic activities and help the affected sectors recover from the effects of this pandemic,” he said.
A report from the Philippine Medical Association chapter here said the city’s Covid-19 positivity rate has already dropped to 2.2 percent.
Aside from the curfew, the local government still requires returning residents and travelers entering the city airport to present negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction or RT-PCR test results for Covid-19.
Returning Overseas Filipino Workers and other residents are also mandated to undergo quarantine for seven days upon their arrival. (Richelyn Gubalani)
No comments:
Post a Comment