DAGUPAN CITY –– The cities of Vigan and Candon and 11 towns of Ilocos Sur were placed on modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) starting Wednesday (April 7) until April 21 because of the sudden increase in the number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in the province.
The towns under MECQ are Cabugao, Bantay, Sinait, Cervantes. Narvacan, Santa, Sta Maria, San Esteban, Sta. Lucia, Suyo, and Tagudin.
These areas were previously on less restrictive modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).
The rest of the province, which has 30 towns and two cities, will stay under MGCQ.
Ilocos Sur Gov. Ryan Luis Singson said it was the provincial COVID-19 task force that recommended the imposition of MECQ on the local governments, adding that it could be lifted any time depending on the rate of infections in the province.
Local health officials said some towns had experienced community transmissions while several hospitals had reached full occupancy.
In a memorandum Wednesday, Singson said the virus threat remained very high and alarming despite the intensified measures against COVID-19.
As of April 6, there were 763 confirmed cases in the province, with 317 of them active.
The most number of cases came from the cities and towns now declared under MECQ.