Misamis Oriental seeks ECQ declaration

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY , Philippines — Misamis Oriental,  which broke its zero coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) status this month, should be placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), according to its local officials.

Gov. Yevgeny Vicente Emano wrote President Duterte on Wednesday to place the province, including Cagayan de Oro City, under ECQ.

Officials of 26 barangays here also urged Mayor Oscar Moreno to place the city under ECQ as the city health office warned residents of a local transmission of the virus.

The Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases had earlier classified Misamis Oriental as a “moderate-risk area” after it recorded no case in March and April.

However, on Thursday, the Department of Health (DOH) regional office said three new cases were recorded in this city after a 21-year-old died of COVID-19 on Tuesday.

The patients are from Barangays Carmen, Camaman-an and Lumbia.

Two cases were also monitored in Sitio Pinikitan in Barangay Camaman-an. The patients, who are confined at the Northern Mindanao Medical Center, are the mother and daughter of another COVID-19 patient.

Not COVID-free

In Quezon, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) said Sariaya and Candelaria towns could not yet be declared COVID-free.

IPHO chief Grace Santiago said Candelaria has six confirmed cases, with two recoveries and one fatality. Three patients remain confined in hospitals.

Santiago said Sariaya has three cases, with two deaths and one recovery.

She said Sariaya could not be declared free of the virus considering its 58 suspected cases, 54 of them still waiting to be tested.

Video footage of Gov. Danilo Suarez’s declaration that the two towns are COVID-free caused confusion among residents as it contradicted the report of the Quezon public information office, citing reports from the IPHO.

“All of us in the provincial government especially Gov. Suarez and his staff have been so busy because of the pandemic... Miscommunication happens,” Santiago said.

No new case in Zamboanga

Except for the cases recorded from the Zamboanga City Reformatory Center, no new case was reported in Zamboanga peninsula in the past three weeks, Joshua Brillantes, DOH regional director, said.

“If we go to the local community and use it as our basis when we downscaled our ECQ to GCQ (general community quarantine)... I think we have flattened the curve because it’s more than 15 days  and we have no new case,” Brillantes said.

The DOH regional office recorded 66 cases, 51 of them from the Zamboanga City jail.

Brillantes said two of nine community cases are medical workers based in Manila. Four of them have recovered. – Roel Pareño, Michelle Zolet