Misamis Oriental not letting its guard down amid low-risk classification

THE Misamis Oriental Provincial Task Force against Covid-19 is not letting its guard down, as strict measures imposed to combat the deadly disease will remain after Interior Secretary Eduardo Año announced that areas under no quarantine classification will be reclassified as modified general community quarantine (GCQ).

Misamis Oriental was among the areas where quarantine level has been lifted after Northern Mindanao was classified as low-risk area by the national Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Tuesday, May 12.

Provincial Task Force spokesperson lawyer Jeffrey Saclot said the implementation of the GCQ in the province will still be in effect pending guidelines of the modified GCQ from the national IATF.

"We are waiting for specific guidelines, so status quo gihapon ang atong implementation sa GCQ," Saclot said.

He said the task force, including the town and city mayors and municipal/city health officers in the province, convened on Wednesday, May 13, and passed a resolution to appeal the IATF's low-risk classification for Misamis Oriental when Año's announcement was made Tuesday, May 12.

Saclot said Governor Yevgeny Emano then wrote a letter of appeal to retain the GCQ status in the province.

"Nag resolution ang task force nga mag-appeal uban sa mga mayors and CHOs/MHOs nga nag attend. Mao nag sulat si guv," Saclot said.

"Gipadala lang gihapon namo ang appeal through the regional IATF kay kailangan man naay concurrence," he added.

Saclot said it is not yet time to relax and be complacent as Covid cases in Cagayan de Oro City continue to rise.

Another family member of the Covid patient who died in Pinikitanan, Camaman-an, Cagayan de Oro City, tested positive for the virus, bringing the total number of cases in the city to 8.

Saclot said all the measures the provincial task force has imposed are meant to safeguard the residents and to ensure that the virus will not spread across the province which, so far, has zero case.