GENERAL SANTOS CITY – The provincial government of South Cotabato is eyeing to ease restrictions on the movement of people and vehicles and to implement a phased reopening of the province’s economy after the end of the enhanced community quarantine on April 30.
South Cotabato Governor Reynaldo Tamayo Jr. said on Wednesday that authorities are currently studying various measures to slowly restart economic activities in the entire province in the coming weeks.
Tamayo said the provincial government’s inter-agency task force on the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) and representatives of the business sector discussed the partial lifting of quarantine restrictions in a meeting last week.
He said they have set at least four criteria for the reopening of the economy and public services: the “flattening of the curve” or the reduction of cases for 14 days, availability of the province’s Covid-19 patient care center in case of an outbreak, availability of medical front-liners and personal protective equipment, and the capacity to conduct contact-tracing.
“The province has so flattened the curve in the past several weeks and the three confirmed Covid-19 patients were already in stable condition,” Tamayo told reporters.
The Department of Health 12 (Soccsksargen) reported last week that the province’s first Covid-19-positive patient (PH 2173), a 52-year-old from Tboli town who had returned home from Manila, has already tested negative and recovered from the disease.
The Integrated Provincial Health Office opened last April 5 the Upper Valley Community Hospital in Surallah town as the province’s dedicated Covid-19 isolation and treatment facility.
As part of the initial preparations for the reopening of the local economy, Tamayo said they are looking at segregating businesses based on “needs and wants.”
Businesses classified as “need” or essential that can implement physical distancing measures may be allowed to reopen on a phased basis, he said.
Tamayo said an executive order is being worked out for release within the week that would return to normal status all pending infrastructure projects in the province.
Under the plan, he said, contractors will be required to house the workers in the project sites and maintain the physical distancing protocol.
Tamayo said the provincial government would also set guidelines to ensure that the delivery of aggregates and construction materials would not be hampered.
“But we have to complete the four criteria to make sure that the blind areas of risk will be shorter once we make the move. That way, we can gamble with it because we already know where we are going,” he said
Tamayo added that the province’s boundaries would remain on lockdown after April 30, during which the local government is expected to have a clearer picture as to the other activities that can be allowed. (PNA)
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