ILOILO – To eliminate public circulation and thus curb coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) transmission, this province will be closing all resorts, beaches and other tourism and accommodation establishments beginning Saturday, May 22, until May 31.
The province is currently experiencing a surge in COVID-19 cases with 6,743 total confirmed infections, wherein 690 are active (as of May 19), according to Gov. Arthur Defensor Jr.
Yesterday, he issued an executive order adjusting quarantine measures.
The province hasn’t requested for a shift to higher quarantine classification, Defensor clarified, but “nagasaka aton (of cases).”
“For the two-week period from May 4 to May 18, the daily average confirmed COVID-19 cases is 33, with an average daily attack rate (ADAR) of 1.98, and a two-week growth rate of 37.26 percent for a supposed community quarantine classification of moderate (General Community Quarantine),” part of the EO read.
Here are the adjusted protocols based on the EO:
* The operation/use of facilities/venues/ areas for recreation and leisure (such as, swimming pools, cottages, beaches, playgrounds, game rooms, function rooms, dining halls, food stations, bars and dance halls) of tourism, recreation and accommodation establishments (such as, beach resorts, inland resorts, water parks, amusement parks, ecological parks, hotels, tourist inns, motels, pension houses, apartment hotels, private homes used for homestay, ecolodges, serviced apartments, condotels, and bed and breakfast establishments) shall be suspended, provided that such tourism, recreation and accommodation establishments may continue to provide basic board and lodging services (room and meals) to:
a. Authorized Persons Outside of their Residences (APORs)
b. returning or repatriated overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and other overseas Filipinos (OFs) returning to their places of residence; and
c. other returning residents
* Swimming and other recreation activities in public beaches, inland, watersand, and other tourist spots shall be prohibited.
* For restaurants, fast food chains and food stalls, dine-in service shall be allowed to open at 50 percent of seating capacity, provided that:
a. diners shall not be seated directly face-to-face (or not directly in front of each other), and that there shall a barrier made of impermeable and transparent material between opposite sides of the tables;
b. tables and chairs shall be at least one-meter apart;
c. alcoholic drinks/beverages, such as, but not limited to whisky, brandy, gin, vodka, rum, cocktail, wine, champagne, beer and such other intoxicating drinks shall not be sold and/or served; and
c. sing-along, karaoke and/or videoke shall likewise not be allowed.
As of May 19, the province had 5,881 recoveries and 182 deaths.
The top five local government units with the highest cumulative COVID-19 cases were Passi City (751), Oton (538), Pavia (458), Miag-ao (266), and Santa Barbara (264).
The LGUs of Anilao, Bingawan, and San Rafael, meanwhile, recorded no active coronavirus cases./PN
