DAVAO CITY—The government’s task force on Covid-19 granted on Thursday acceded to the request of two cities in Mindanao for an upgrade to the next stricter level of their current quarantine status amid a spike in Covid-19 cases.
Davao City, thus, has its status upgraded to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) and General Santos City to general community quarantine (GCQ), up from their respective GCQ and modified GCQ status which Malacañang announced last week.
The upgraded status was contained in Inter-Agency Task Force for the the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) Resolution 119 s. 2021 issued on Thursday, and which makes the new status effective starting Saturday until June 20 as requested by both cities.
The IATF resolution also stated the government protocol on inbound migrant workers and Filipino travelers that they should still submit to a seven-day stay in a holding facility even if they have been partially or fully vaccinated.
Davao City’s request to upgrade its quarantine status was filed on Wednesday by Mayor Sara Duterte-Carpio.
With the new status, Davao City joined three other cities and four provinces in Mindanao under MECQ. These are Zamboanga City, Zamboanga Sibugay, Zamboanga del Sur, Zamboanga del Norte, Cagayan de Oro City, Butuan City, and Agusan del Sur.
The other areas place under MECQ are the City of Santiago in Isabela, Apayao, Benguet, Ifugao, Puerto Princesa City and Iloilo City.
Other than Davao City, their MECQ status would only be until June 15.
The upgraded status for General Santos City joined 12 other areas under GCQ, namely, Baguio City, Kalinga, Mountain Province, Abra, Isabela, Nueva Vizcaya, Quirino, Batangas, Quezon, Iligan City, Lanao del Sur, and Cotabato City.
The GCQ status would for the whole month of June.
In Davao City, the MECQ would now require again the carrying and presentation of the food-and-medicine pass, the equivalent of the quarantine passes in the rest of the country, and the restriction of movement on Sundays, especially for residents under 21 years old and above 65 years old, unless for emergency and essential purposes such as the purchase of medicine, medical treatment and food items for the household.
In asking for upgraded stricter status, Mayor Duterte said “as of May 31, 2021, we have a total of 1,665 active cases currently admitted at the Southern Philippines Medical Center and our Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities and Isolation Facilities,” she said.
The mayor said there were nearly 1,000 cases reported between May 23 and 29 alone.
Dr. Ashley Lopez, acting City Health officer, said the city has 338 accumulated cases from the last four days of May, with 156 cases on May 28 alone. “This is the highest spike since October last year. It’s a spike, not a gradual increase,” he added.
The city government here has called on those affected by MECQ “zero operational capacity” to coordinate with the Trabaho Dabawenyo employment assistance at the City Mayor’s Office Special Project Office at Magsaysay Park.