Prepare COVID-19 dead burial grounds, Aklan LGUs told

ILOILO CITY, Philippines — Local government units in Aklan have been asked to prepare burial grounds for those who died of COVID-19.

In a letter to the 17 mayors in the province on Monday, Gov. Florencio Miraflores said their partner crematorium facility Gegato Abecia Funeral Parlor and Crematorium in this city sent notice that it had temporarily stopped accepting bodies for cremation given the “huge volume of cadavers they receive daily.”

The Aklan provincial health office said up to five persons die of COVID every day.

The province was placed under the stricter modified enhanced community quarantine from Aug. 1 to 15 amid rising infections.

The owner of the crematorium told a radio interview that they could cremate only 10 bodies a day after the machine they use malfunctioned.

It was learned that two COVID-19 fatalities were buried in a cemetery in Kalibo town on Monday night.

Kalibo Mayor Emerson Lachica gave assurance that minimum health protocols were observed in burying the dead.

Lachica said he asked the Sangguniang Bayan to pass a resolution to purchase a lot that would serve as a burial ground for COVID fatalities.

Cornelio Cuachon of the Aklan provincial health office said they would strictly follow the guidelines in burying COVID fatalities under Presidential Decree 856 or the Code on Sanitation.

Under the law, those who died of communicable diseases should be buried within 12 hours after death and the body should be placed in a metal casket.

Border control

In Ilocos Sur, which is under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions, Gov. Ryan Luis Singson issued an executive order (EO) banning the entry of non-essential travelers from Metro Manila and surrounding provinces.

Singson ordered strict border control in Tagudin, Cervantes, Narvacan and Sinait towns.

Returning residents and those delivering cargoes should present their identification card, S-Pass registration and negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test taken within 72 hours upon entry. Those crossing the border should also present a negative RT-PCR test valid for seven days.

In Caraga, Butuan City Mayor Ronnie Vicente Lagnada issued an EO placing the city under GCQ with heightened restrictions from Aug. 1 to 15.

The entire Caraga region is under GCQ during the same period. – Eva Visperas, Ben Serrano