AMONG the areas that had their quarantine restrictions eased were Cebu’s neighbors Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental.
They must have done something right to be able to remove themselves from the list of places under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). They moved to a general community quarantine (GCQ) effective May 1, 2020.
Government extended the ECQ until May 15 in three regions, four provinces and three cities. These are the National Capital Region (or Metro Manila), Central Luzon region except for Aurora province, Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal and Quezon), Pangasinan, Benguet, Baguio City, Iloilo province, Cebu province, Cebu City and Davao City.
Those not on the list shifted to a GCQ wherein some companies may be reopened and some public transportation resumed.
Bohol, Siquijor and Negros Oriental have succeeded in keeping their numbers of confirmed coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases low or at zero. Siquijor has been spared, with no case reported from the start of the daily tracking of the Department of Health (DOH). Bohol and Negros Oriental had early Covid-19 cases but their numbers didn’t rise dramatically.
The only confirmed Covid-19 case of Bohol involved a 60-year-old Chinese woman who traveled to that province in January. The Chinese tourist recovered, was discharged on Jan. 31, 2020, and returned to China. Up to last Friday, there was no report of local transmission of the virus in the province.
Last March 13, Bohol became the first province to have a community quarantine, a day after President Rodrigo Duterte’s order for Metro Manila. Bohol ordered a community quarantine, suspended domestic and international air and sea travel of passengers going into the province, required physical distancing, and banned huge gatherings. It imposed quarantine rules before Negros Oriental and Cebu.
Negros Oriental had two confirmed Covid-19 deaths and two other patients who were admitted to a hospital. On April 3, the province was placed under a state of calamity and an ECQ. Cebu’s first confirmed case was reported by the DOH last March 18. The patient was a 65-year-old male who was confined in a Mandaue City hospital.
What Cebu’s neighbors did to limit transmission and achieve a downgrade of restrictions could inform other provinces still battling a rising number of infection cases. Siquijor had no case at all probably because it didn’t have many visitors and it has a smaller population. Travelers have to take more stops to reach Siquijor.
Bohol was able to control the risk of transmission when it immediately imposed restrictions on travel and movement, soon after Metro Manila.
Negros Oriental had its scare when frontliners started turning up positive for the virus as they were exposed to a Covid-19 patient. Hospitals resorted right away to strict safety procedures.
These provinces have smaller populations compared to Cebu’s, but it does not diminish the impact of what they did to shift from an ECQ to a GCQ. Cebu is doing all it can and it calls on the support of the public to abide by strict measures.