LUCENA CITY –– The Quezon provincial government has imposed added restrictions on travelers passing through the province to protect residents from the highly-contagious coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
On March 22, Gov. Danilo Suarez issued Executive Order No. 14 after the reclassification of the quarantine status of Laguna, Rizal, Cavite, Bulacan, and the National Capital Region (NCR), saying: “certain restrictions in inbound travel must be implemented and enforced.”
The order, which the Quezon public information office released on March 23, stated that Quezon-bound travelers from the said areas shall be limited to “Authorized Persons Outside their Residences; essential and emergency travels; returning residents of Quezon; and those bound to southern provinces of the country.”
Suarez said municipal mayors could issue additional restrictions as may be allowed by law and existing rules and regulations by the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases.
The 150-kilometer portion of the Maharlika Highway that passes through the province runs from the Quezon-Laguna border in Tiaong town down to Calauag town in the Quezon-Bicol boundary.
IATF Resolution No. 104 placed NCR and the four provinces under the stricter general community quarantine (GCQ) status from March 22 to April 4 due to rising COVID-19 cases in the country, with Metro Manila as the epicenter.
Quezon has been under MGCQ status since July 1, 2020.
Suarez tasked local governments, national agencies, and offices to strictly monitor compliance to EO 14 and ensure that all measures to prevent the spread of the COVID-19 virus are observed.
He also ordered the police to guard all points of entry from GCQ areas and arrest violators.
Checkpoints have been put up at the Quezon-Laguna border in Tiaong, Lucban, and Real towns.