BACOLOD City Mayor Evelio Leonardia has issued Executive Order (EO) No. 44-A amending EO No. 44, an order establishing protocols in managing locally stranded individuals (LSI), repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFW) and returning residents (RR) during the period of the city’s modified general community quarantine and beyond.
Leonardia, who signed the EO on July 1, 2020, said the latest report of Bacolod City Health Department (CHO) listed a total of 51 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, 20 of which are OFWs, 20 LSIs and only 11 did not have a travel history but had contact with persons who had arrived from areas outside Bacolod City.
“Considering the impact of the Covid-19 pandemic on public safety and travel, the movement of individuals between and within cities and provinces have been heavily reduced to curb the spread of the infection and, after careful review, the local Inter-Agency Task Force recommends additional guidelines in managing LSIs, OFWs and other RRs in order to contain the spread of the virus in the local community," he said.
Section 1 of the EO states that all LSIs, OFW and RRs arriving from Manila, Cebu and other high-risk areas shall submit to mandatory reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) testing and shall be required to undergo monitored quarantine at a designated isolation facility until their test result come out negative. After which, they will complete the remainder of the 14-day quarantine at home under strict monitoring of the village chief or barangay health emergency response team (BHERT), who shall be responsible in immediately reporting to the CHO should the quarantine subject or any member of his family or household experience symptoms of Covid-19.
LSIs, OFWs and RRs shall be allowed upon proper coordination and clearance with the City Government and subject to availability of quarantine facilities.
The neighborhoods, puroks or homes in a barangay with residents who have tested positive for Covid-19 shall be sealed-off to contain the spread of the virus to other residents in the community. In subdivisions with fenced houses, the lockdown may cover only the residents of the person concerned ad all the people in that household.
The barangay officials where the mentioned residents live are authorized to identify those homes and neighborhoods as ultra-risks and in consultation with the CHO, immediately place said homes and neighborhoods under complete lockdown for at least 14-calendar days.
When a lockdown is declared in an area, the village chief, BHERT, CHO, and the Philippine National Police shall immediately go on house-to-house visits to inform the residents therein of their lockdown. Households in the lockdown areas shall be given the contact numbers of the village chief and BHERT members who will be their link to the wider community during the lockdown period.
Food assistance shall be provided by the city to low-income lockdown areas per assessment and recommendation of the Department of Social Services and Development. The lifting of the lockdown shall not be automatic but shall be subject to prior review and approval of the CHO based on its assessment of emerging health issues in that lockdown area, the EO further stated.