NVizcaya wants to be under MGCQ

BAYOMBONG, Nueva Vizcaya: The Provincial Task Force on Covid-19 here appealed to the Inter- Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to reclassify the province of Nueva Vizcaya from general community quarantine (GCQ) to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).

During the provincial task force meeting, Gov. Carlos Padilla said the province had no reported cases for weeks after the six patients who tested positive for the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) have all fully recovered. According to the provincial health office, there were only seven Covid-19 cases in the entire province, one of whom died of the virus.

Padilla said if their appeal before the IATF-EID would be approved, placing the province under MGCQ, would mean requiring residents to implement strict health protocols such as the use of face masks and physical distancing.

According to IATF Resolution 40, Region 2 ( Cagayan Valley) will remain under GCQ status from June 1 up to June 15, which maintains a strict policy on mass gathering particularly church and other religious activities.

Meanwhile, the Provincial Disaster

Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) pursued the Oplan Awid Program, targeting to bring home to the province close to 300 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from Metro Manila and provinces in Northern Luzon.

Robert Corpuz, PDRRMO chief, said hundreds more of LSIs were still waiting for their respective travel authority to be issued by the Philippine National Police before they could be fetched and brought home by the Oplan Awid Team.

Corpuz said they would all be placed under the 14-day mandatory quarantine in their respective receiving local government units.

Transporting stranded individuals were members of the Nueva Vizcaya Van Owners Club, who volunteered to fetch them from anywhere in Luzon provided they had completed all the requirements to travel back home to the province.