Iloilo City wants curbs eased as COVID cases drop

(FILE) PROTECTED Residents of Barangay M.V. Hechanova in Jaro District in Iloilo City get their COVID-19 vaccine shots at their village on Sept. 7. —PHOTO COURTESY OF THE ILOILO CITY MAYOR’S OFFICE

ILOILO CITY—The city government has appealed for a lower community quarantine status to allow more economic activities amid the downtrend in new COVID-19 cases and aggressive vaccination drive here.

In a letter dated Oct. 12, Mayor Jerry Treñas asked the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) to reclassify the city’s quarantine category from the current general community quarantine with heightened restrictions, which is effective until the end of the month.

The city was placed under modified enhanced community quarantine in May and to the strictest enhanced community quarantine in August amid a surge in COVID-19 cases and the exhaustion of hospital beds and equipment dedicated to COVID-19 patients.

Treñas, in his letter, cited the “significant drop in confirmed (COVID-19) cases in the city and neighboring provinces.”

The city health office recorded 30 COVID cases on Oct. 11. There also has been a significant drop in the average daily attack rate (Adar) from 29.68 percent to 17.22 percent. The Adar is derived by dividing the number of new COVID-19 cases in a city or province over a two-week period with its population.

Treñas said the easing up of community quarantine restrictions would help revive the city’s economy.

“[It is] imperative for Iloilo City as an economic center to gradually ease lockdowns to revive its crippled economy,” he said.

The prolonged heightened restrictions have affected 65 percent of businesses in the city resulting in either closure or suspension of operations.

“I am appealing to you to lower the quarantine classification of Iloilo City so that we can also allow more economic activities. Businessmen and the Ilonggos are hurting because of the lockdowns. Many businesses have closed and many Ilonggos are out of jobs,” the mayor said. —Nestor P. Burgos Jr.