TABUK CITY, Kalinga – Cit officials expressed confidence that this component city will be able to maintain its status as Corona Virus Disease (COVID) 2019 free even with the extension of the implementation of the Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine.
Mayor Darwin Estrañero said that the local government, in coordination with the personnel of the Tabuk City Police Office, continue to enforce stringent measures in the different checkpoints to make sure that no ill individuals will be allowed to enter the city so that the gains hat the city was able to achieve in the initial implementation of the quarantine period will not be derailed.
He disclosed that the remaining 5 persons under instigation (PUIs) who are undergoing strict home quarantine are simply awaiting the lapse of the 14-day quarantine period while the 2 PUIs that tested negative for the deadly virus were already discharged from the local health facility where they were previously confined.
The local chief executive pointed out that residents of the city who come from overseas and areas in the country with COVID cases should not attempt to enter the city at the height of the extended enhanced community quarantine because law enforcers manning the checkpoints have been given the instruction to make sure that there will be no unnecessary travels inside and outside the city.
Mayor Estrañero claimed that there were no additional PUIs that were reported in the city over the past several days that is why once the remaining 5 PUIs will be able to complete their 14-daay home quarantine, it will be safe to conclude that Tabuk will be COVID-free as efforts are being done to maintain the said status until the possible lifting of the Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine.
Earlier, he reported that since the implementation of the enhanced community quarantine, there were some 30 PUIs in the city that had been documented where 23 of them were declared by health authorities as free from the deadly virus while 5 of them have been required to complete their prescribed 14-day quarantine period and that the 2 PUIs were simply waiting their test results from the Research Institute of Tropical Medicine (RITM).
The city mayor expressed his gratitude to the city’s residents for their continuous cooperation and understanding of the prevailing situation, especially the guidelines that had been crafted by the national inter-agency task force where people are mandated to stay home when they do not have any important business to do outside their homes and for them to observe social distancing anytime.
Mayor Estrañero also lauded the unrelenting and uncompromising efforts of the law enforcers and volunteers in manning the checkpoints in the city and the barangay officials for their sustained dedication in discharging their duties and responsibilities to help the government cascade to the grassroots level important advisories concerning the enhanced community quarantine considering that their efforts deserve utmost commendation from the authorities s they sacrificed their time, efforts and resources just to help in maintaining the COVID-free status of the city.
He also appealed to the public for patience in dealing with the extended Luzonwide enhanced community quarantine considering that it is for the benefit of everyone, especially in preventing the spread of the contagious virus that could compromise the health of the people. By Dexter A. See
