Eastern Visayas LGUs intensify measures vs COVID-19 spread

TACLOBAN CITY — As the number of COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas continues to increase daily, many local governments in the region have put up measures to help stop the spread of the virus.

The provincial governments in Northern Samar and Eastern Samar, including its capital city of Borongan, have enforced a limited number of their employees.

In Northern Samar, Gov. Edwin Ong has ordered a work-from-home scheme among its employees while his counterpart in Eastern Samar, Gov. Ben Evardone, directed a skeletal workforce arrangement among provincial capitol employees.

Both Ong and Evardone also urged their respective constituents to stay at home and to always observe all the health protocols.

In Borongan City, Mayor Jose Ivan Daya Agda also issued an order for an alternative working scheme among City Hall employees wherein half of the employees of a particular office are to report physically for a week while the other half will work in their respective homes.

This scheme, however, will not apply to some offices like the sanitation, health, traffic, and disaster reduction management offices.

Meantime, both Tacloban City Mayor Alfred Romualdez and Ormoc City Mayor Richard Gomez debunked rumors that they will place their respective cities under lockdown amid the surge in COVID-19 cases.

Romualdez said he would never place Tacloban under a lockdown considering that many victims of Typhoon Odette from Southern Leyte came to the city to buy their goods and even withdraw their money.

“Besides, our economy is just starting to recover. We will not do that,” Romualdez said.

On Monday, the Department of Health (DOH) in Eastern Visayas announced that there were 346 new COVID-19 cases, bringing its total number of infections to 2,876.

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