Mayor Jerry Treñas has reiterated his call for public cooperation to keep Iloilo City free of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
“I would like to appeal to every Ilonggo to cooperate by observing proper measures such as religious hand washing, proper cough etiquette, social distancing, and disinfection measures,” Treñas said.
“We are together in this fight, but to defeat COVID-19 starts with self-responsibility. The Iloilo City Government can only do so much, but together, we can do even so much more with your cooperation, my beloved Ilonggos,” he added.
As of Saturday, March 14, Iloilo City has recorded zero confirmed cases of COVID-19.
“I still feel blessed that up to date, there is no confirmed positive case in Iloilo City,” Treñas said.
“We ould like to keep it that way by being vigilant, and by following directives included in the executive orders, advisories, and preventive measures we came up with in the Iloilo City Government, national government, and the Department of Health,” he added.
On Sunday, March 15, Treñas issued an executive order (EO) “suspending and prohibiting the non-essential entry of persons travelling by sea within Iloilo City.”
“Passengers travelling by sea coming from Metro Manila (and its cities), Batangas Seaport through the Roll-On/Roll-Off (RoRo) Ports and those who prior to entering Iloilo City can be shown to have come from the 120 countries identified by the World Health Organization (WHO) shall not be allowed to enter Iloilo City from March 16 at 12 midnight until April 14, 2020,” EO No. 059 stated.
“Immuno-compromised passengers or those who are at a higher risk of being infected by COVID-19 shall be subjected to the protocols, decision tools and triages issued by the accredited health authorities.”
“Entry of cargo ships/vessels will be unhampered but shall be subject to compliance with DOH guidelines. Crew or passenger of the cargo ships or vessels cannot be allowed to disembark from their ships during the period.”
Meanwhile, the essential entry of persons into the city “shall be defined exclusively and shall include only health care workers, authorized government officials, those travelling for medical and humanitarian reasons, persons providing basic services and public utilities, and essential skeletal workforce,” EO No. 059 stated.
Those persons coming from the provinces of Iloilo, Capiz, Antique, Aklan, and Guimaras and returning residents of Iloilo City “who have been tested, cleared, and declared by accredited health authorities as COVID-19 negative” will be allowed to enter the city.
Aside from this, the city government implemented several measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“As early as February 5, through Executive Order 28, I have designated a Focal Person to coordinate and implement disease prevention and control measures against the COVID-19,” Treñas said.
“This was followed through by subsequent issuances implementing strict quarantine procedures, surveillance and clearance of all foreign vessels calling on ports in Iloilo City, adoption of a health declaration checklist, tourism establishments and barangay monitoring,” he added.
The mayor also created a task force against COVID-19.
“This task force has been continuously holding barangay orientation on appropriate measures in response to the COVID-19 threat, including the checking of Persons Under Monitoring (PUMs) their own barangays,” Treñas said.
“There is a continuous sanitizing activity in all barangays, and nine additional medical doctors and twenty-eight nurses will be employed to assist the COVID-19 Task Force and Iloilo City Health Office, he added.
The mayor also issued EOs “suspending all mass gatherings” and “classes in all levels both in public and private schools in Iloilo City from March 16-29.”IMT
