14-day ECQ set in Piat, Cagayan as COVID cases rise

TUGUEGARAO CITY-The municipality of Piat will be under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) status starting Sunday (August 29) until September 11 as active COVID-19 cases soared in the town.

Piat Mayor Carmelo Villacete said in phone interview on Saturday that 117 active cases have been reported with 20 deaths in one day.

The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force later approved the recommendation of the local government to place the town under ECQ.

In his Executive Order No. 36, Villacete said the ECQ guidelines and protocols would be observed which include locking down villages and disallowing entries of non-residents without negative COVID-19 swab  test results, and keeping senior citizens and children home.

Authorized villagers with face masks and face shields would be allowed to go markets from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m. in the town.

The Piat Basilica Minore church would be closed to devotees but virtual masses will be allowed.

Piat villagers who went out of the town within the day would be issued an identification card and would be allowed re-entry, subject to health protocols.

Tricycles would be allowed only with one passenger per trip.

“We need a ‘Draconian’ decision to put a stop to this COVID-19 pandemic,” Villacete added.

He urged national government agencies to suspend conduct of face-to-face seminars and related activities.

Villacete thanked Archbishop Ricardo Baccay of the Archdiocese of Tugegarao for allowing the use of Pilgrim’s Inn, a Church-operated lodge in Piat town, as an isolation facility for COVID-19 patients.

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