TACLOBAN CITY – The enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) has been extended in the entire Samar province and its two cities until April 30, as health workers treat two persons infected with coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and monitor several others who had contacts with them.
Samar Governor Reynolds Michael Tan issued on Tuesday Executive Order No. 22 extending the ECQ until the end of the month. This is a 15-day extension from the April 1 to 15 pre-emptive ECQ issued on March 30 this year.
The extension is based on the recommendation of the provincial inter-agency task force to control the spread of Covid-19 in the province.
“Policemen and army are hereby directed to continue implementing the existing mandatory measures and guidelines relative to the fight against Covid-19 during the period of extension, without prejudice to the grant of exemption in favor of certain sectors, as public health and food security considerations may warrant,” the order reads.
Since the pandemic, Samar province has recorded three confirmed Covid-19 cases — one from Calbayog City and two from Tarangnan, Samar.
The patient from Calbayog was already discharged from the hospital after his last two swab samples tested negative for the disease. The other two patients are still confined at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center.
In Catbalogan City, the provincial capital, Mayor Dexter Uy signed Executive Order 04-004 extending the enhanced community quarantine.
Under the extension, people exempted from travel restrictions are police, military, health workers, government employees who are part of the skeletal force, emergency responders, Philippine Red Cross staff, hospital workers, private caregivers, and other medical professionals and their employees.
Also exempted are workers in banks, money transfer services, supermarkets, groceries, pharmacies, food chains, restaurants, food delivery services, food traders, telecommunication, water and power utility workers, garbage collectors, cable television operators, and journalists.
Exempted individuals must always present their identification cards in checkpoints.
Those who are not medical professionals must have a certificate of employment with the stated duty hours, area of assignment and specific duties. Private caregivers are asked to secure a special pass from the City Mayor’s Office.
The city government also provided schedules on what day selected residents from nearby places can enter the city.
“We also sought the help of the military to secure and conduct patrolling in its borders, including coastal villages,” Uy said.
Meanwhile, in Calbayog City, Mayor Ronald Aquino issued a directive as early as April 8 extending the ECQ to April 30. The original ECQ was supposed to end on April 15.
The city government made this step a week after a 63-year-old male resident was found positive of Covid-19. The second patient has a recent travel history to Metro Manila where he contracted the virus before returning to his hometown.
He managed to recover from the disease and was released from the hospital on Sunday (April 12). The two other patients from nearby Tarangnan had close contacts with him.
The city government continues to limit the number of people from villages outside the city and nearby towns in entering the city’s commercial district by giving them a schedule.
“We urge everyone to observe physical distancing especially those who are going to markets, fish ports, and groceries,” Aquino said in a statement on Tuesday.
He added they will be strict in enforcing the wearing of face mask outdoor policy by penalizing those failing to comply, especially in public places. The city also enforces the no back ride policy.
There is also a 24-hour curfew for children and elderly until April 30, while regular curfew is still from 9 p.m. until 5 a.m., the city mayor added.
The city mayor asks the support of village officials to strictly implement the provisions of the executive order to make the city safe from Covid-19. (PNA)
