Taytay’s Municipal Inter-Agency Task Force (MIATF) has asked the Regional IATF to place the town again under general community quarantine (GCQ) status with heightened awareness from July 7 to July 21 in order to address and reduce the number of COVID-19 cases.
According to Mark Lawrence Pleyto, municipal government information officer, by taking the action to place Taytay under at least a 15-day GCQ, the town would have more time to reduce the number of coronavirus cases which is 59 active as of July 6.
MGCQ, he added, permits gatherings such as birthday parties and weddings, which they want prohibit to for the time being since they may lead to outbreaks.
“The MTF wouldn’t want to see the gains painstakingly achieved and the gradual reduction in the number of active cases, erased by a singular ‘super-spreader’ event by relaxing the community quarantine classification to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ),” he added.
“[Sa GCQ,] bawal kasi yong mga gatherings related sa mga birthdays, kasal, binyag, etc. Yung mga non-essential na pagtitipon sa labas at loob ng tahanan. [Kasi] it can take only one case, at yan mabilis kumalat,” Pleyto explained.
15-day break from accepting non-APORs
Pleyto said the RIATF has also granted the request of the MIATF for the extension of non-acceptance of authorized persons outside residence (APOR) from outside the province for another 15 days.
He said the MIATF promptly restricted person movement after receiving approval from the RIATF and after conducting an evaluation to reduce delays in contact tracing, case identification, isolation, and quarantine of positive patients.
“Prevailing circumstances dictate a more cautious approach in the Municipal Task Force’s policy direction. The presence of local community transmission coupled with the risk of imported cases are the primary factors that led to the request for the extension of GCQ with heightened restrictions and the temporary suspension of inbound travel from outside the province which were both concurred with by the RIATF and RTF,” he said.
National government APORs on essential travel and those involved in the conduct, monitoring, supervision, and augmenting of the COVID-19 vaccination team, as well as returning Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs) who have completed their 14-day mandatory quarantine as certified by the Bureau of Quarantine (BOQ) with a Department of Health (DOH) quarantine certificate, are exempt from the travel restriction.
