Governor Degamo to extend ECQ in NegOr

Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo speaks to members of the media after an Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) meeting on Monday morning, April 13, 2020. CDN Digital photo | Florence Baesa

DUMAGUETE CITY, Negros Oriental—Negros Oriental Governor Roel Degamo said he will extend the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in the province.

The extension of the ECQ was recommended by the Negros Oriental Medical Society (NOMS) and the Philippine College of Physicians (PCP) Negros Oriental chapter during an Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) meeting on Monday morning, April 13, 2020. 

However, the number of days of the extension will be known on April 16, 2020, when the governor issues an executive order.

“Ang inter-agency task force mi-recommend sila for extension apan wala sila modermine for how many number of days,” said the governor. 

(The inter-agency task force recommended for the extension but it didn’t determine for how many number of days.)

The ECQ in the province was initially set to end on April 18, 2020.

“So mao ni atong sumadahon ug atong ayuhon ug kung pila ka adlaw gyud nga ma extend nato nga ma sustain nato ang requirements sa kada pamilya nga gigutom. Kinahanglan man ni nato lantawon,” he added. 

(So this is what we will review and determine as to how many days we can extend it so we can sustain the requirements of every family who are hungry. We really need to look into this.) 

Meanwhile, Dr. Liland Estacion, the Incident Command System (ICS) commander, said the recommendation stemmed from the fact the the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) curve has not flattened yet.

The province is awaiting for the test results of the 20 swab samples sent to Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) in Cebu last week.

“The reason why there is an extension is because we have not yet flattened the curve. We have to flatten it first,” Estacion said. /bmjo