After almost two months in lockdown due to the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), Iloilo City will reopen its borders to other areas within the Western Visayas region, Mayor Jerry Treñas said on Tuesday, May 12.
The entry and exit of people to and from the city, according to the mayor, will no longer be restricted starting May 16.
The city of Iloilo and the rest of Western Visayas have been reclassified by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) as “low-risk areas.”
“[The region will] no longer be under Community Quarantine,” the IATF-EID said on Tuesday morning.
In a press conference, Treñas said: “We are very happy kon low risk na gid man kita. We will be ready as we have been preparing for this.”
According to the mayor, he already talked to Bacolod City Mayor Evelio Leonardia about the resumption of roll on-roll off (RORO) and fast craft trips.
“Pero strikto dyapon ang aton pagpatuman sang social distancing kag pagsuksok sang face masks,” Treñas said.
The city government has yet to issue guidelines for the implementation of the so-called “new normal” in the city.
Based on the May 12 bulletin issued by the Department of Health (DOH-6), Iloilo City has a total 16 confirmed COVID-19 cases, including five recoveries and one death.
“It’s not really on the number of cases, it’s really the ability of the LGU to respond with issues like the one that happened in Brgy. Sto Niño Sur in Arevalo.”
Half of the infected patients in the city are residents of Arevalo district.
The city has been under the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) since March 20 to contain the spread of COVID-19.IMT
Photo by Arnold Almacen
