Santiago City seeks 14-day MECQ

TUGUEGARAO, Philippines — The local government of Santiago City in Isabela is seeking to revert the city to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) due to increasing cases of coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19.

The city government wants the MECQ implemented from yesterday until Nov. 14.

The regional task force on COVID-19 endorsed the city government’s request to the national Inter-agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Mayor Joseph Tan said the city was declared a COVID-19 hotspot area by the IATF in September.

The city has recorded at least 130 confirmed cases since March with one fatality.

Nine new cases were recorded in Santiago yesterday, according to the Department of Health.

Of the 37 barangays in the city, 28 have confirmed cases, Tan said.

The city school division subjected all teachers to swab tests before the request to place the city under MECQ was submitted to the regional task force.

Apart from Santiago, the city of Ilagan, also in Isabela as well as the local governments of Tuguegarao and Enrile, both in Cagayan, and Solano in Nueva Vizcaya requested to be reverted to MECQ.

149 cases in one day

The mining town of Itogon in Benguet recorded 149 new COVID cases in one day, after a mass testing was conducted in the villages of Ampucao and Poblacion.

The figure will be validated today by health authorities.

Mayor Victorio Palangdan said he would ask the Department of the Interior and Local Government to send additional contact tracers.

9 frontliners catch COVID-19

Nine health workers in Cagayan tested positive for COVID-19 yesterday, according to the provincial health office.

Among the new cases are three doctors, three medical technologists, two nurses and a contact tracer.

One of the infected doctors earlier recovered from the disease.

The rest of the cases are companions of the reinfected doctor.

Lifted

Meanwhile, tourists can again visit Sipalay in Negros Occidental starting on Nov. 6 after the ban on non-essential travel to the city was lifted yesterday.

Mayor Gina Montilla-Lizares on Friday issued Executive Order 2020-048, lifting the ban on non-essential travel to Sipalay.

Accommodation establishments may accept non-resident tourists who comply with the requirements set by the city government.

Dive schools are allowed to accept enrollees who can present negative swab test results, conducted within five days from the date of swabbing.

Tourists are advised to fill out an online registry form at tinyurl.com/Sipalay.

The decline in the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Sipalay prompted local officials to lift the ban.

Sipalay is known for its dive sites and water-related tourism activities.