TACLOBAN CITY –– Amid the rising number of coronavirus cases in the region, local officials have asked the national Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to place the entire Eastern Visayas under general community quarantine (GCQ) again.
In a resolution, the regional IATF and the Regional Task Force (RTF) on COVID-19 in Eastern Visayas proposed to enforce stricter quarantine measures in the region for two weeks or from August 28 to September 12.
“Whereas, the provincial governors of Eastern Visayas recommended the imposition of a general community quarantine on the provinces and cities of Eastern Visayas as a necessary measure to contain and curtail the spread of COVID-19 cases in the province,” they said.
The resolution was signed by Karl Caesar Rimando, chairperson of the RIATF; Dr. Minerva Molon, regional director of the Department of Health; and Lord Byron Torrecarion, RTF-8 chair.
As of Friday, Eastern Visayas has about 2,600 COVID-19 cases with 16 deaths.
The region is under a modified GCQ, the most relaxed form of quarantine.
Molon earlier said there has been local transmission of the virus in several parts of the region.
In Tacloban City, Eastern Visayas’ regional capital, Mayor Alfred Romualdez placed the entire city under GCQ from August 24 to September 8.
LZB