Oca confirms GCQ bid to IATF

Cagayan de Oro City Mayor Oscar Moreno confirmed today that he wrote the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) asking that the city be placed under general community quarantine (GCQ).

“We need to enforce some regulations. Generally it’s (GCQ) not that heavy but we have to make some adjustments. The procedure is we communicate to the RIATF relaying our position to place the city under GCQ. Under the rules it will be the IATF Manila that will declare our quarantine status and they can do that every 15 days or at the end of the month,” Moreno said during Thursday noon’s City Hall press briefing.

Moreno’s confirmation came as Cagayan de Oro City registered 111 Covid-19 cases as of 10 pm of May 26. In her daily case update, acting City Health Officer Dr. Lorraine Nery said the 111 cases consisted of 24 local cases with links, 29 local APOR cases, 52 local index cases and six deaths.

“Total active cases (as of May 27) is 1,085 with 280 patients admitted in the city’s hospitals,” she said.

Under GCQ status, people aged 21 years old below and 60 years old above are required to stay at home. In the past few days, Mayor Moreno issued two executive orders aimed at restricting public gatherings which were among the factors cited for the surge of Covid-19 cases in the city. These include a 9 pm to 5 am curfew and a ban on liquor sale within curfew hours and the temporary closure of resorts.

In asking for a GCQ status in Cagayan de Oro City, Mayor Moreno said the people of Cagayan de Oro “should be given a second chance” to turn things around and reduce the Covid-19 surge to manageable levels.

“If we can somehow lower our cases between now (Thursday) and the end of the month, then there is that small chance that the IATF may even decide to retain the MGCQ status for the city,” Moreno said.

At the same time, Moreno said it’s up to the IATF to decide what quarantine status would be imposed on the city, including modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).

“Hopefully we have that small chance (to avert that) even if time is short…But the IATF has the power to decide on a local government´s status and if they decide on MECQ then it will impact heavily on all of us,” Moreno said.

Moreno also admitted that the Northern Mindanao Medical Center (NMMC) asked him to petition the IATF to place the city under GCQ.

“With 172 Covid-19 patients in their EREID (Emerging-Reemerging Infectious Diseases) facility, the doctors of NMMC said their situation is now difficult. And the NMMC is our last defense in our Covid-19 response,” Moreno said.

Last week, NMMC declared a code red alert level which meant they reduced by half their medical services in order to boost their capacity in handling Covid-19 cases in response to the surge in the city and northern Mindanao.

“If we continue with the MGCQ without full public cooperation, then we have to adopt stricter measures to achieve that cooperation,” Moreno said. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)