Northern Samar gov’t permits work-from-home to curb COVID-19

TACLOBAN CITY –– To help curb the spread of COVID-19, the provincial government of Northern Samar has decided to allow a work-from-home arrangement for one month starting Monday, June 7.

Gov. Edwin Ongchuan issued a memorandum Sunday to make his decision formal.

The order affects around 3,000 employees and contractual workers of the provincial government.

Among the offices directed to work-from-home were those assigned at the Office of the Vice Governor, the provincial board, and the tourism office.

The order also requires those under the Governor’s Office, provincial health office, information, general services, and engineering offices, among others, to adopt a skeleton workforce arrangement.

Personnel assigned at the provincial offices of disaster risk reduction management, social welfare and development, provincial jail and sub-jails, and provincial and district hospitals, however, are to continue working under the regular work schedule.

As of Monday, the province has 1,748 COVID-19 cases.

The Department of Health (DOH) also confirmed that two women from the town of Catubig tested positive for the highly transmissible United Kingdom (UK) variant or B.1.1.7.

Rei Josiah Echano, provincial disaster risk reduction management officer, said the work arrangement enforced by Ongchuan aims to slow down the spread of the virus in the province.

“We hope that our preventive measures stringently applied since last week can do wonders in curbing this recent COVID-19 surge in our province,” he said.

Aside from the work-from-home arrangement, the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force also issued on May 31 a resolution calling for strict implementation of the health protocols, including the wearing of face mask and face shield in all public places and the imposition of curfew from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. for those 21 to 60 years old, and a 24-hour curfew for people below 21 years old and above 60 years old.

LZB