BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – This city of half a million people woke up Tuesday to a brand new week under a tighter community quarantine regime.
“We were shocked,” said Frank Carbon, executive director of the Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry.
On Monday night, President Rodrigo Duterte approved Bacolod City’s modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) status due to rising cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Mayor Evelio Leonardia likewise issued Executive Order No. 60 placing the city under MECQ pursuant to Resolution No. 69-A of the national Inter-Agency Task Force.
But this was a sudden declaration, according to Carbon.
He cited part of the MECQ guidelines, where some businesses are allowed to open but there is no public transportation.
He said even their employees cannot report for work, while restaurants are open, they are only limited to deliveries.
“What’s worse is the MECQ is until Sept. 30,” Carbon lamented.
The government, Carbon said, should have first recognized that COVID-19 “is not just a health crisis but also a livelihood crisis.”
“Many have already lost their jobs because they worry not only about their health but also about what to do every day,” he pointed out.
He added that 90 percent of those employed are using public transportation.
“We in the business sector want to know where is the transmission happening and how,” Carbon pointed out. “We believe that if the transmission is happening in just a few barangays in the city, [then] they should be the only ones on lockdown.”
Carbon further stated the business sector in the city is far more supportive of a granular lockdown approach. They will attend a consultation organized by the provincial government of Negros Occidental scheduled today, he said.
Based on the Sept. 7 count of the Department of Health Region 6, there were a total of 1,151 active cases in the metro and 27 deaths.
On Monday alone, Bacolod recorded a total of 58 new confirmed COVID-19 cases.
Bacolod City was under general community quarantine prior to its shift to MECQ./PN
