GenSan set to lift COVID-19 restrictions as cases decrease

The city government is set to lift the remaining movement restrictions and other control measures here in the coming days as community transmitted cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have continued to decrease.

Mayor Ronnel Rivera said on Wednesday the City Inter-Agency Task Force (CIATF) for the Management of Emerging and Re-emerging Infectious Diseases decided to further ease the prevailing COVID-19 regulations to facilitate more business activities.

He said this includes the lifting of the prevailing general curfew, except for minors, from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m., and the mandatory wearing of face shields in public places.

The wearing of face shields will only be required as additional protection inside hospitals and clinics, he said.

The mayor said he will issue a new executive order in the next few days to set the specific guidelines and their effectivity.

Aside from these, Rivera said the CIATF members also agreed to finally rescind the negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result for travelers and returning residents coming in through the city airport.

“It also proposed for the removal of the mandatory quarantine for fully vaccinated travelers coming into the city,” he said in an advisory.

Rivera said the task force will formally request the Sangguniang Panlungsod or city council to amend the ordinance that provided for such requirements.

The city government has a standing request to the national IATF for the downgrading of the city’s classification from the current general community quarantine (GCQ) to the less restrictive modified GCQ.

The city and other parts of Region 12 (Soccsksargen) were earlier placed by the IATF under GCQ until the end of November through Resolution No. 146-A.

As of 6 p.m. Tuesday, the active COVID-19 cases in the city’s 26 barangays further dropped to 162 after reaching over 1,000 during the last surge in September.

The confirmed infections in the city since last year have reached a total of 14,068, with 539 related deaths and 13,367 recoveries.

The Department of Health-Region 12 classified the city as a low-risk area for COVID-19 since last month due to the continuing decrease of new cases. (MindaNews)

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