Nueva Ecija Gov. Aurelio Umali
CABANATUAN CITY – Led by Mayor Myca Elizabeth Vergara, the city inter-agency task force has requested to revert to general community quarantine the status of this city amid the rise in confirmed coronavirus 2019 cases, Gov. Aurelio Umali said Tuesday.
“Mayor Myca, in consultation with local inter-agency task force, has requested the change of status ng quarantine po sa Cabanatuan. They requested that frommodified general community quarantine, sila po ay nagre-request na bumalik sa general community quarantine,” Umali who heads the Nueva Ecija IATF said.
The governor said they have endorsed the request to the national IATF which should make the final decision in accordance with the process: “We support the decision of the city government to move Cabanatuan City from MGCQ to GCQ.”
“We have already formally endorsed yun long request na ang Cabanatuan ay bumalik sa GCQ because we’ve seen the rise of local transmission in the city,” he added.
Umali noted that population–wise, the city is the biggest in the province. “Siya po ay sentro ng mga komersiyo,” Umali said, adding that people from different municipalities buy their neccessities here. “At dito po, ang mga ospital ay andito.”
In balancing the economy and people’s safety, the latter should be given more weight, Umali explained.
Reports from the city information and tourism office showed that from 27 cases on July 8, the city now has 38 confirmed Covid-19 cases, of which 21 have recovered, seven are admitted in hospitals and 10 on strict home quarantine.
The city has no recorded death.
The city government is now distributing packs of groceries for its sixth round of food assistance to some 126,000 households here.
Vice Mayor Julius Cesar Vergara said the city can still distribute rice presently stored in a facility.
