The City of Bacolod’s bid to return to a less restrictive community quarantine status by Tuesday, Dec. 1, received support from the two regional coronavirus disease management bodies in Western Visayas.
In Resolution No. 82 dated Nov. 27, copies of which were released by the city government over the weekend, the Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) and the Regional Task Force (RTF) COVID-19 jointly endorsed the request of Bacolod to “de-escalate (its) CQ status from general community quarantine to modified general community quarantine starting Dec. 1”.
The resolution was concurred by Office of Civil Defense-6 Director Jose Roberto Nuñez, chair of the RTF, and Interior and Local Government-6 OIC-Director Juan Jovian Ingeniero, chair of the RIATF.
The endorsement came after Mayor Evelio Leonardia sent a letter dated Nov. 26 to Health Secretary Francisco Duque, chairman of the IATF for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, appealing to place Bacolod under MGCQ effective Dec. 1.
The city has been under GCQ since Oct. 1, after it was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine by the IATF-EID from Sept. 8 to 30, to curb the spike of local infections.
“We have met all the criteria for de-escalation with the further decline of COVID-19 cases in Bacolod during the last two weeks,” the mayor told Duque.
He cited figures as of Nov. 24, showing 258 active cases out of the 5,294 accumulated cases in Bacolod.
“The total number of recoveries has reached 4,875, or 92.08 percent, which correlates to good management and treatment of COVID-19 cases,” Leonardia said. – NLG
