Bacolod seeks more relaxed quarantine status

BACOLOD CITY, Philippines — This city should be placed under a more relaxed modified general community quarantine or MGCQ, according to Mayor Evelio Leonardia.

In a letter to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III through Interior Undersecretary Epimaco Densing lll, Leonardia sought the downgrading of their GCQ status, citing the continuous decline in the number of coronavirus disease 2019 cases in the past two weeks.

The number of active cases went down from the total 4,491 confirmed cases to 591 as of Thursday.

Leonardia said the infection rate of .58 percent is considered low, adding that the average daily rate is down to 5.32 percent from 11 percent two weeks ago.

Leonardia said they have started the implementation of the Bacolod City contact tracing system, a localized web and mobile application, which has 212,319 residents and 5,128 establishments as registered users.

The Sunday lockdown of major markets in the city as well as the ban on travel and entry into their seaports and airport had earlier been lifted.

In Pangasinan, Binalonan Mayor Ramon Guico Jr. yesterday lifted the granular lockdown of the residences of COVID patients following a record number of recoveries.

Sixty-seven patients have recovered in the entire province as of 3 p.m., bringing the total to 985 since March.

”This is the highest number of recoveries in a single day,” the provincial health office said.

Pangasinan has recorded 1,386 cases.

Quezon town mayor infected

Meanwhile, Mayor Paulino Sayat of Pitogo, Quezon went on medical leave after he was found infected.

According to a certification from the office of the municipal health officer dated Oct. 13, Sayat’s swab test conducted at the Lucena United Doctors Hospital molecular laboratory yielded a positive result on Oct. 7.

Municipal health officer Maria Glynda Lao said the mayor was advised to rest for a few weeks.

The number of confirmed cases in Quezon province continues to rise, with 2,967 recorded as of yesterday. At least 1,039 are active cases.

PNP virus count

As this developed, the police station in Tublay, Benguet was locked down on Friday after five police officers were infected.

Six police officers in Itogon and one each in Atok and Sablan, also in Benguet, contracted the virus.

The Philippine National Police (PNP) said 15 of its personnel from the Cordilleras are among the 50 new cases recorded on Friday.

The number of confirmed cases in the PNP is now 6,636. – Eva Visperas, Michelle Zoleta, Raymund Catindig, Emmanuel Tupas