CEBU CITY, Philippines — Residents of Bantayan town in Bantayan Island will only have two days per week to purchase their necessities as the municipality in northern Cebu starts implementation of its enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) pass number coding scheme this Thursday, May 7, 2020.
Under the ECQ pass number coding scheme, holders of passes with control numbers ending in 0, 1, 2, and 3 may only go out on Mondays and Thursdays.
Those carrying passes ending in 4, 5, and 6 are allowed to go out on Tuesdays and Fridays while Wednesdays and Saturdays are designated for holders of ECQ passes with control numbers ending in 7, 8, and 9.
Bantayan town will start to implement on Thursday, may 7, 2020, its ECQ pass number coding | Photo courtesy of the Municipality of Bantayan
Exempted workers and those having emergency concerns are not covered by the ECQ pass control number coding scheme.
“Exempted sa number coding scheme ang mga mo gawas tungod sa emergency or medikal nga rason, mga trabahante kag negosyante nga nagkupot sa white, blue, kag orange passes, exempted workers kag skeletal workforce passes,” the LGU’s explainer on EO No. 32 reads.
(Those who will be going out because of an emergency or because of a medical reasons or those employed by businesses that are holding the white, blue, and orange passes of those exempted workers who are part of a skeletal force are exempt from the number coding scheme.)
Bantayan Mayor Arthur Despi issued Executive Order No. 32, which provided for the ECQ passes number coding scheme policy, last April 30, after one resident was found positive for the coronavirus infection last April 28.
Under EO No. 32, Bantayan town will already be implementing “expanded ECQ regulations” which include the pass number coding and the mandatory wearing of face masks in public places.
READ: 13 more close contacts of Bantayan patient cleared
While a total of 20 close contacts of the first COVID-19 patient and ten other persons under monitoring have already been cleared, Bantayan is still awaiting the return of test results of 15 more persons whose swab samples were taken last May 1. / dcb