ILOILO City – This city, Iloilo province and Bacolod City closed their borders anew as cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Western Visayas soared to 810.
“Due to rising cases, Iloilo City will close its borders for people coming in from Bacolod City, Negros Occidental and Negros Oriental starting July 22 until further notice,” read part of Mayor Jerry Treñas’ advisory issued yesterday afternoon.
He, however, made it clear that the “movement of essential goods and cargoes will remain unhampered.”
Iloilo province’s Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr. issued a similar advisory and so was Bacolod City’s Mayor Evelio Leonardia.
“Given the existing circumstances in Bacolod City and Negros Occidental, and also that in Iloilo City and Province of Iloilo, we are closing our borders to passengers coming in from Iloilo City, Province of Iloilo, and the whole of Panay, including Guimaras effective tonight, 11:59 p.m.,” Leonardia announced yesterday.
Data from the Department of Health Region 6 showed the four areas having the following number of COVID-19 cases as of July 21:
* Negros Occidental – 272 (32 indigenous, 240 repatriates)
* Iloilo province – 260 (67 indigenous, 198 repatriates)
* Iloilo City – 98 (50 indigenous, 48 repatriates)
* Bacolod City – 92 (27 indigenous, 65 repatriates)
In the whole Western Visayas, the 810 cases were made up of 607 repatriates and 203 indigenous cases.
“Closing our borders was recommended by our COVID-19-team composed of doctors,” Treñas told Panay News.
The reopening of borders would depend on the COVID-19 situation in Negros Island and Cebu, according to Treñas.
Cebu is currently considered the epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak in the country.
Bacolod’s Leonardia said the city government is adhering to the recommendation of Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) on COVID-19, to sustain stringent protocols in addressing the health crisis.
He said Galvez told him to “just sustain your stringent protocols to reduce your active cases to a manageable level”, in response to his earlier appeal to Galvez and other key officials of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to retain the modified general community quarantine status of Bacolod from July 16 to 31.
Treñas said he got in touch with Defensor, Leonardia, Negros Occidental’s Gov. Jose Eugenio Lacson, Guimaras’ Gov. Samuel Gumarin, Antique’s Gov. Rhodora Cadiao, Capiz’s Gov. Evan Esteban Contreras, and Aklan’s Gov. Florencio Miraflores about the border closure.
He also ordered Public Safety and Transportation Management Office head Jeck Conlu to inform all shipping companies serving the Iloilo-Bacolod/Negros sea lane about the closure.
For his part, Defensor also announced the temporary closure of the seaports of Dumangas and Estancia towns to prevent people from Bacolod City and Negros Occidental from entering the province.
Only cargo ships would be allowed to ensure the unhampered flow of goods.
It is important that Iloilo city and province coordinate their moves, stressed Defensor.
Like Treñas, Defensor won’t say for certain when the province’s borders with Bacolod City and Negros Occidental would reopen.
“I heard reports nga there’s a developing situation in Negros or Bacolod,” he said.
It was just July 7 when people from within Western Visayas could once again freely enter Iloilo province. Defensor lifted the border restrictions he imposed on July 1.
On July 6 during the meeting of the Western Visayas inter-agency task force on COVID-19, provincial governors of Iloilo, Antique, Capiz, Negros Occidental, and Aklan agreed to relax their respective border controls. (With a report from the Philippine News Agency/PN)
