Gov. Mercado extends heightened community quarantine in So. Leyte

MAASIN CITY, Southern Leyte — Governor Damian Mercado has extended on Monday, April 13, 2020, the heightened community quarantine in the whole province until April 30, 2020.

Mercado signed EO 23 based on the recommendation of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to enable the province to strengthen control over its borders and prevent the spread of COVID-19.

Executive Order 23 though will be released on April 16 yet for fine-tuning and will last until 11:59 p.m. of April 30.

Mercado said that it is essential to tighten the traffic of people going to and from the province especially that Southern Leyte remains free of the disease. Southern Leyte is the gateway to and from Mindanao and Luzon.

The initiative aims to protect Southern Leyteños from the disease as the province could not stay complacent now that there are recorded cases in its neighboring areas.

Under the EO, entry to different entry/exit points of the province will still be limited to essential goods or basic needs.

The EO23 said stranded OFWs with strict coordination of the OWWA, will be allowed entry only if they will be subjected to a 14-day quarantine in their respective municipality or barangay.

Mandatory wearing of facemask (either washable, reusable, surgical, N95) and social distancing protocols will still be strictly implemented.

Meanwhile, the over 1,000 Southern Leytenos who are stranded in Cebu will still not be allowed to go home. They will have to wait until the end of this month to gain reentry.

On the other hand, Dr. Verna Fernandez, the province’s DoH head, explained that two deaths included in the latest DoH report were caused by Severe Acute Respiratory Infection and not by  COVID-19. /rcg