By Christine Fabro
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) escalated the community quarantine classification of Iloilo City to Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ) effective today (May 23) until May 31, 2021.
The order was made after an appeal from the City Government of Iloilo to the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19 and Department of the Interior and Local Government (DILG).
In the Executive Order (EO) 041 series of 2021 of the Office of the City Mayor in Iloilo, it said that the surge in pandemic infections in the recent weeks overwhelmed the hospitals in Iloilo City and with bed capacity becoming critical, the majority of the hospitals temporarily stopped admitting the patients.
“Most private hospitals in Iloilo City, despite being overwhelmed, are discouraged from increasing their bed capacities for COVID-19 patients attributable to unsettled claims for the state health insurer,” said in the EO.
The city government also imposed a moratorium on travel of persons from Negros Island to Iloilo City and vice versa starting May 25, 2021.
As of May 23, the partial number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Iloilo City was 24.
Recently, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas appealed for an increase in supply of COVID-19 vaccines for cities outside Metro Manila after a recommendation to dedicate 90% of vaccine supply to NCR Plus was brought up by the OCTA Research Group. – rir
