With President Rodrigo Duterte’s directive to extend the Enhanced Community Quarantine in areas identified as high-risk for COVID-19, the province of Davao de Oro will no longer pursue the implementation of the modified community quarantine (MCQ).
Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque on Friday announced that the President had approved the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Taskforce for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to extend the ECQ until May 15. Three areas in Davao Region were included in the list.
“Our province is one of the areas in Davao Region to have been placed under (extended) ECQ, including Davao del Norte and Davao City. We are still on a rechecking status. We will wait for the guidelines from the national government. Because of President Duterte’s declaration, our plan for the modified community quarantine (MCQ) will not be implemented.
We will follow the directive and mandate of our president,” said Davao de Oro Governor Tyron Uy on Friday.
“I know many of us have been expecting to be able to go back to their jobs or whatever it is that was left before. But the government is also considering our safety and welfare,” he stressed.
Uy said that in the coming days, the provincial government will meet with the local government executives and some national government agencies for the next steps.
“We will use this time on ECQ to strengthen our local contact tracing, to prepare for the ‘new normal,’ to plan for other comprehensive measures, and to continue our call for a mass testing here in our province and the entire Davao Region,” the provincial governor said.
Uy also urged the public that even with the implementation of ECQ or MCQ, the health measures implemented amid COVID-19 crisis such as social distancing, wearing of face masked, frequent hand washing, must always be observed.
“I am asking for your cooperation. I am asking for your patience, and that we must follow the mandate of our government,” he added.
It can be recalled that on Wednesday, Davao City and Davao de Oro announced its intent to shift to MCQ once the implementation of ECQ ends on April 26. Meanwhile, the Davao Oriental, Davao Occidental, and Davao del Sur will now be placed under the general community quarantine. The three provinces are categorized under low-to-moderate risk areas.
