Iloilo Province is already adjusting quarantine guidelines as its general community quarantine (GCQ) will end on May 31, Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said on Thursday.

Citing Resolution 40 of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), Defensor said that the province is already considered as “low risk”.

The said resolution states that low-risk areas like Iloilo province “shall be placed under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ) until 15 June 2020”.

“We are adjusting the EO (executive order) right now because I just received (the resolution). It is the imposition of minimum public health standard (like) social distancing. We will adjust the EO based on Resolution 40,” he said in a press conference.

The governor said that shift of the province to MGCQ will be a big help to the economy.

“When we loosen up quarantine procedures, its effect is that it loosens the economy by adding the establishments that will be allowed to open, by adding industries that will be allowed to operate,” he said.

These establishments and industries will operate and observe strict safe physical distancing.

The current GCQ is the province’s new normal, he added.

The governor said that despite the downgrade of quarantine measures, it is still important for the Ilonggos to maintain the “3 Ms” which stands for “mag-maskara, mag-distansya, kag manghinaw” (wear face masks, maintain safe physical distance, practice proper handwashing).

Defensor also said that it is also important for the province to attend to returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and locally stranded individuals (LSI).

“This is to ensure that no sickness will spread,” he said. (PNA)

Photo Source: Capitol PIO