(File photo from Negros Oriental FB)
DUMAGUETE CITY – Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo, with the start of Alert Level 4 here, has issued a new executive order in the management and response of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic but giving more emphasis on the government’s vaccination program.
Adrian Sedillo, executive director of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), said on Wednesday the governor issued Executive Order No. 38 late Tuesday evening after receiving an official communication from the National IATF on the alert level system.
EO No. 38 is adopting the guidelines for the expanded alert level system but are mostly similar to the guidelines under the modified enhanced community quarantine except vaccinated individuals have more “freedom” as opposed to those who have not yet received the vaccine, he said.
“The governor is agreeable to this system that is putting emphasis on vaccinated people. It is almost like an incentive for them,” he said an interview.
For instance, a food establishment may be allowed to operate provided certain percentages for indoor and outdoor seating capacities are followed and only vaccinated individuals can be accommodated, Sedillo added.
He also pointed out that employees of establishments and other businesses must be fully vaccinated otherwise they are prohibited from reporting for work.
Since the alert level system cannot be appealed, Sedillo said the governor was set to meet with the provincial IATF to discuss the strengthening of measures to bring down the number of Covid-19 cases in Negros Oriental.
The Alert Level 4 status in Negros Oriental is effective from October 20 to October 31. (PNA)
