Piat Mayor Carmelo Villacete (Photo courtesy of Piat LGU)
TUGUEGARAO CITY – Piat town in Cagayan Province will be placed under an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) starting on August 29 until September 11 as the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) active cases soared, the mayor said on Saturday.
Mayor Carmelo Villacete, in a phone interview with Philippine News Agency, said there are 117 active cases reported with 20 deaths, prompting them to recommend the 14-day ECQ status to the Cagayan Valley Regional Task Force on Covid-19, which gave its approval.
In his Executive Order No. 36, Villacete said the ECQ guidelines and protocols will be observed, locking down villages and disallowing entry of non-residents without negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests.
“We need a draconian decision to put a stop to this Covid-19 pandemic,” he added.
Face masks and shields will be required at the public and wet markets, and mobile stores, which will operate from 5 a.m. to 6 p.m.
The Piat Basilica Minore church will be closed to devotees but virtual masses will be allowed.
Villagers who went out of the town within the day will be issued an identification card and will be allowed re-entry subject to health protocols, Villacete said.
Tricycles will be allowed to ferry one passenger for one trip.
Villacete also called on national government agencies to suspend face-to-face seminars and related activities.
A family in Piat was said to have been infected after a member attended a seminar sponsored by the Department of Social Welfare and Development in Santa Ana town.
The mayor thanked Archbishop Ricardo Baccay for allowing the use of Pilgrim's Inn, a church-operated lodge in Piat, as an isolation facility for Covid-19 patients as the local government facilities were already full. (PNA)
