Lucena mayor welcomes downgraded quarantine status but residents must stay vigilant

LUCENA City Vice Mayor Roderick Alcala. FILE PHOTO

LUCENA CITY — Lucena Mayor Roderick Alcala welcomed the downgrading of the city’s quarantine classification from modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) to general community quarantine (GCQ) with “heightened restrictions.”

“Ang pagbaba ng ating community quarantine classification ay isang indikasyon na napapagtagumpayan natin ang pagpapatupad ng nararapat na health at quarantine protocols upang masigurado ang kaligtasan ng mga Lucenahin,” Alcala said in a video message on Facebook.

(The downgrading of our quarantine status is an indication that we succeeded in enforcing the needed health and quarantine protocols to ensure the safety of all Lucenahin.)

He called on city residents to sustain the battle and strictly obey all COVID-19 protocols.

Alcala assured the public that the campaign to stop the spread of the highly contagious virus is seriously waged by policemen, barangay (village) marshals and other local government agencies.

Arnel Avila, city public information officer, said the local pandemic task force would soon issue the “restrictions” that will be imposed under the new classification.

President Duterte approved on Thursday the new quarantine classifications across the country.

Lucena has been downgraded from MECQ to GCQ with “heightened restrictions,” while the rest of Quezon province will remain under GCQ from July 16 to 31.

Last week, the city government awarded 18 business establishments led by the local SM shopping mall with “Safety Seal Certification” for their strict observance of COVID-19 health and safety protocols.

After the city was placed under MECQ on July 1, the local police conducted strict checkpoints to ensure that only “authorized persons outside residence,” or Apor, and essential workers would be allowed to enter the city.

As of the 10 a.m. bulletin by the Integrated Provincial Health Office on Friday,July 16, the city still has 205 active cases, from the 285 infections recorded a month earlier, on June 16, the highest cumulative number of COVID-19-infected persons on any given day since the pandemic began.

On March 7, the total active cases in the city were down to seven, only to spike in May until they reached their current level.

Lucena has recorded 133 fatalities from the highly contagious illness.

As of July 16, Quezon province still has 764 active COVID-19 cases, from the highest tally of 1,125 cases two months ago (May 15).

The total COVID-19 death toll in the province rose to 715 after a validated virus carrier in Tagkawayan town was listed as the latest fatality on July 16.