CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY – Bukidnon Gov. Jose Maria Zubiri Jr. has declared an "enhanced quarantine" of the province starting Saturday midnight as a measure to ensure the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) will not further spread.
On a Facebook post late Friday evening, Zubiri said non-residents would be barred from entering the province "to strengthen the community quarantine that is already in place and to prevent the spread of Covid-19."
Exempted from the order are health workers who are responding to an emergency, government officials or employees whose travel to Bukidnon is in relation to Covid-19; entities or organizations on humanitarian missions such as the Philippine Red Cross; and persons delivering supplies such as food and medicine.
On Wednesday, Cabanglasan Mayor Renante Inocando said he and 17 other Bukidnon mayors were under quarantine upon learning that Senator Juan Miguel Zubiri tested positive for Covid-19.
Inocando said he and his colleagues 17 in the League of Municipalities of the Philippines (LMP) had lunch with Zubiri at a restaurant on March 10 in Manila.
Inocando is the LMP chapter president for Bukidnon, which consists of 20 municipalities and component cities of Valencia and Malaybalay.
The elder Zubiri declared the lockdown after implementing a community quarantine that started last March 17.
On Thursday, Misamis Oriental Gov. Yevgeny Vincente Emano and some mayors of the province have committed to cooperate with the city government in the imposition of the quarantine. (PNA)
