Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno. (Screengrab via CIO)
CAGAYAN DE ORO CITY - The local government here on Thursday appealed to the Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases to reconsider its plan to extend the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) in the city despite the downtrend in Covid-19 cases for September.
In an online press conference, Mayor Oscar Moreno said he learned about the looming MECQ extension from Jane Doncallos, City Director of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG).
Moreno said he then wrote Health Sec. Francisco Duque III, through DILG Sec. Eduardo Año, a letter appealing to reconsider the MECQ extension.
The mayor cited figures from the City Health Office (CHO) and the Department of Health that indicated a decline in the number of cases and slight improvement in city's health care utilization rate (HCUR).
He added in his letter that the city government has been abiding by all health protocols.
The city was placed under MECQ in June, then under the much stricter ECQ in mid-July. On August 16, the city reverted to MECQ.
Moreno said he would have wanted to retain an MECQ status to help medical professionals working on the front lines. However, he also wanted to consider affected workers llike small-time vendors who have been affected by the heightened quarantine restrictions.
"I would want that to happen (sustained MECQ), but the problem is our economy. So my message to the people - hopefully, we can sustain the minimum public health standards so there are no more debates (once the quarantine gets relaxed)," he said.
Despite his reservations, Moreno said he would abide by the IATF's final decision.
On Thursdsy evening, the IATF through Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque placed the city under General Community Quarantine (GCQ) but with "heightened restrictions," along with the province of Misamis Oriental.
The province of Misamis Occidental and Iligan City was placed under GCQ, while the rest of Northern Mindanao region was at Modified GCQ.
New cases
Meanwhile, for the 14th day in a row, the CHO has logged 47 new cases as of 10 p.m. of September 29, which reduced the total active cases to 2,992. In previous weeks, the total active cases was more than 3,000.
Dr. Teodoro Yu Jr., CHO Medical Officer, said the city's vaccination drive remains its top priority to meet the minimum rate for population protection.
The city said its pre-registration database for the vaccination of people aged 12 to 17 years old has so far received around 4,000 requests.
"Whatever we do, it's all about self-discipline and behavior change. It is up to us people [to] lower, and bring down the (Covid-19 cases) numbers," Yu said. (PNA)
