Lucena’s MGCQ status a challenge, says city mayor

LUCENA CITY –– Lucena Mayor Roderick Alcala has called on residents to remain vigilant to prevent the spread of the deadly coronavirus disease (COVID-19) as the city now shifted to a more lenient modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) status.

Alcala welcomed the new status and accepted it as a challenge to the local government and city residents.

“The new status will help boost the revitalization of the local economy towards the ‘new normal.’ But we have to show that we are all worthy of the MGCQ classification,” Alcala said in a phone interview Wednesday morning.

He attributed the granting of a new category to the effective handling by the local government and the residents of the coronavirus crisis.

Alcala said the city has met all challenges and problems to prevent the spread of the virus.

But for him, “the battle is not yet over.”

“Obey all safety and health protocols to thwart the spread of this virus,” Alcala said in his appeal.

On Tuesday, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases has placed Lucena City, a highly urbanized city, under the more relaxed MGCQ from its former general community quarantine (GCQ) status until June 30.

The rest of Quezon province remains under GCQ classification until June 30.

Lucena logged a total of 63 confirmed COVID-19 cases since the pandemic broke out.

But it also recorded a total of 58 cured patients, thus, having only five active virus carriers on its list, the local IATF report showed as of Tuesday.

LZB