Misamis Oriental governor seeks stricter quarantine

CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY, Misamis Oriental, Philippines — Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano has asked the national task force overseeing the government’s response to the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) pandemic to put his province under stricter quarantine as infections continue to rise, particularly in the neighboring cities of Cagayan de Oro and Iligan.

Misamis Oriental and its capital, Cagayan de Oro, are under modified general community quarantine, where the most relaxed restrictions are in place.

“We hope to be given stricter boundary control [because as] much as possible, we don’t want to [see an] increase [in COVID-19 cases] anymore,” Emano said.

Assurance

Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque, during a visit here on Monday, assured the provincial government that he would bring Emano’s request to put Misamis Oriental and Cagayan de Oro under the stricter general community quarantine to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

Cagayan de Oro Mayor Oscar Moreno said he was hoping that the quarantine status of Northern Mindanao would be given attention, though he added that compared to Iligan, his city was still able to manage well the number of COVID-19 infections.

But he acknowledged that the spike of cases in the city in the last three months had been largely through local transmission.

Compliance

“What’s important now is for the people to strictly comply with minimum public health standards,” Moreno said, referring to localized containment zones, contact tracing, and the enforcement of physical distancing.

The Department of Health had recorded 614 COVID-19 cases in Cagayan de Oro as of Sunday. At least 225 of these are active cases, with 373 recoveries.

Misamis Oriental recorded 306, with 94 active and 211 recoveries, while Iligan posted 590, with 174 active and 391 recoveries.

—Jigger Jerusalem