(CITY HEALTH OFFICE)
By: ROEL T. AMAZONA
TACLOBAN CITY- Maintaining the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) in Leyte will help its economic recovery.
Thus said Governor Leopoldo Dominico Petilla who wants the reopening of the local economy ravaged by the impacts of the coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19).
“We don’t want to burden our people from doing their livelihood,” he said.
President Rodrigo Duterte in his live video message last Friday (July 31), has placed Leyte and the rest of the provinces in the region under the MGCQ status.
Gov. Petilla said that although Leyte has the most number of COVID-19 cases in the region, its recovery rate is also high as most of the infected individuals by the virus are asymptomatic.
“Most of them had already recovered even those who arrived in the early week of July,” he said.
The governor has issued Executive Order 08-01-2020 last Friday placing the entire Leyte province under MGCQ from August 1 to August 15.
Under the MGCQ, movements and travels of all residents in the province are unrestricted. However, health and sanitary protocols must be observed especially in crowded and public places.
The entry of all persons originating outside the province either by land, air, or sea is prohibited except for returning overseas Filipino workers, locally stranded individuals, and Balik Probinsya, Balik Pag-asa (BP2) program beneficiaries, must undergo the mandatory 14-day quarantine period in their respective local government units upon their arrival.
Also exempted from travel ban are authorized persons outside residence (APOR) or those workers in essential business establishments and industries, health and emergency front-liners, uniformed personnel, those traveling for medical or humanitarian reasons, skeleton workers, accredited construction workers, delivery personnel of cargo vehicles, among others.
Public utility vehicles can now resume operations, provided they comply with the directive of the Department of Transportation disinfection and other safety measures.
The new directive will allow business establishments to resume operations provided they equip their office or store disinfectant or sanitizer ready for use of its clientele.
