The Pangasinan provincial government has asked the National Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) to place the province under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions to allow stricter implementation of safety measures in the province.
In a Facebook post on Saturday (Aug. 28), Pangasinan Gov. Amado Espino III said the implementation of GCQ with heightened restrictions from Sept. 1 to Sept. 15 could help decrease the surge of COVID-19 infection in the province.
“The escalation of the quarantine risk qualification to GCQ with heightened restrictions shall allow us to implement more stringent protocols to curb the rapid spread of the dreaded disease,” Espino said.
Pangasinan is currently placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) until Aug. 31.
As of Aug. 29, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Pangasinan stands at 19,699. Of this, 3,195 are newly recorded cases.
Espino suspected that the three recorded Delta variant cases in Pangasinan caused the spike of new COVID-19 cases recorded in a single day in the province.
“Ang pagtala ng tatlong kaso ng Delta variant sa Pangasinan ang siyang dahilan ng community transmission na nagresulta sa hindi inaasahan na pagtaas ng mga bagong COVID cases na umabot sa bilang na 1,944 new confirmed active cases simula Agosto 22 (202 cases), Agosto 23 (317 cases), Agosto 24 (344 cases), Agosto 25 (489 cases), at Agosto 26 (592 cases), o apat na magkakasunod na araw lamang mula sa 30 na bilang na aktibong kaso noong Agosto 21,” the post states.
Some private hospitals have also stopped admitting patients, while the Pangasinan Provincial Hospital logged its COVID-dedicated bed capacity to 143%.
According to data from Provincial Health Office, there are 10 towns that are classified as 25% critical zone, including Calasiao, Urdaneta City, Pozorrubio, Lingayen, Bugallon, Aguilar, Infanta, Sta Barbara, Binalonan, and Mangaldan, including Dagupan City. – Report from PTV News / CF – jlo
