TACLOBAN CITY—The governor of Southern Leyte, Damian Mercado, has downgraded the quarantine status of his province from general community quarantine (GCQ) to modified GCQ for July.
Mercado, who chairs the provincial inter-agency task force (PIATF), said the declining number of COVID-19 cases in the province had led the task force to agree to downgrade the community quarantine status of the province.
The provincial health record shows that Eastern Samar had a positivity rate of 39 percent from June 14 to 20, but this went down to 13 percent the week after.
Still, Mercado asked the public to follow all the minimum health protocols like wearing a face mask and face shield and observing physical distancing “to ensure the continued downward trend of positive cases in the province.”
Since the start of the pandemic, the province has reported 2,755 cases, of which 266 are active.
About 79 COVID-19 patients across the province had died due to the virus.
In Eastern Visayas, the number of deaths continues to rise.
As of Thursday, the region had 402 total deaths since the pandemic started in March 2020.