Quezon eyes border checkpoints as COVID-19 cases jump to 178

Quezon Gov. Danilo Suarez. Photo from his Facebook page

LUCENA CITY––Quezon province is considering putting back border checkpoints as it recorded 81 new COVID-19 cases, bringing to 178 its active infections as of Jan. 5.

Gov. Danilo Suarez said reestablishing checkpoints in its boundaries to Laguna province and the Bicol Region might become necessary in light of the surge of infections in Quezon.

Health authorities suspected that the rise in cases could have been the result of increased mobility during the Christmas and New Year holidays, especially of those returning home from the National Capital Region (NCR), which is seeing a sharp surge in infections.

On Dec. 22, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) listed only nine active COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day tally during the last quarter of 2021.

The IPHO, in its 5 p.m. bulletin on Jan. 5, disclosed that
Sariaya town topped the list with 19 new infected individuals.

Lucban town listed 11 new COVID-19 cases; and Lucena City, Tayabas City, and Dolores town had 10 each.

The town of Candelaria recorded 5 cases; Tiaong, 4; Tagkawayan, 3; Atimonan, 2; and one each in the municipalities of Calauag, Padre Burgos, Quezon, Infanta, Pitogo, Mulanay, and San Antonio.

The tally for the day listed one recovery in Sariaya town and zero fatality.

The infected patients have been placed in several hospitals in the province and local government isolation centers, while some are under home quarantine.

Of 41 localities in the province, the towns with active virus carriers jumped to 24 on Wednesday, from only six on Dec. 27.

Suarez on Wednesday called for an emergency meeting with the provincial inter-agency task force, peace and order council, and local government executives to map out measures to curb the rise of new cases amid the threat of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.

The public information office has yet to report what transpired during the meeting.

In an interview Tuesday by the local media, Suarez was not keen on placing the province under the more stringent Alert Level 3.

“We will have to assess the situation. I will give it some thought and get the reactions of town mayors,” he said.

Three other provinces in Calabarzon (Region 4-A) — Cavite, Rizal, and Laguna — have been placed under Alert Level 3 until Jan. 15. Only Quezon and Batangas in the region remain under Alert Level 2.

However, Suarez said the provincial authorities might come up with some preparatory measures like setting up checkpoints to conduct strict monitoring of inbound travelers, particularly those from NCR.

“I expect the rise in the volume of travelers from Metro Manila going to the provinces once the situation there becomes worse,” the governor said.

Suarez said personnel with thermometers would man the border control points to determine the health condition of travelers.

“Once the thermometer shows high temperature, the person will not be allowed to enter the province,” Suarez said.

He explained that thermometer reading is more precise compared to the reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction test result, which, he said, could be falsified.

The 150-kilometer portion of the Maharlika Highway that passes through the province runs from the Quezon-Laguna border in Tiaong town to Calauag town in the Quezon-Bicol boundary.

Checkpoints will be put up at the Quezon-Laguna border in Tiaong, Lucban, and Real towns and the Batangas-Quezon border in San Antonio and Candelaria towns.

There will also be control desks in all piers in different parts of the province, Suarez said.

Quezon recorded 28,011 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic struck in 2020, with 26,352 recoveries and 1,481 fatalities.

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