Zambo officials to review, recommend GCQ for Nov 16-30

By Dominic I. Sanchez 

ZAMBOANGA CITY, November 4 (PIA) – Mayor Beng Climaco Wednesday (November 3) instructed local officials to review the possibility of downgrading to General Community Quarantine (GCQ) from November 16-30, as COVID-19 cases continue to drop for the past several days. The mayor has also instructed the local task force to study the lifting of the Sunday lockdown and allow fully vaccinated residents more movement.

Currently, the city has 2,145 active COVID-19 cases as per the city’s daily tracker.  

The City Hall Public Information Office (PIO) said the mayor had made this pronouncement during the local officials’ daily meeting, in which Mayor Climaco nevertheless emphasized the need for strict compliance to health protocols. 

The Sunday lockdown has been in place since August “as part of the measures to curb COVID-19 transmission amidst the threat of new COVID variants specifically the delta variant”, a news bit from the PIO read. Under this policy, “only those going to places of worship, health frontliners, security frontliners and disaster risk reduction and management, as well as those on emergency situation and involved in the food delivery services are allowed to go out on Sundays”.

Meanwhile, the local task force is also to conduct an assessment whether to allow fully vaccinated residents more mobility.

Nevertheless, the mayor is appealing for continuous strict compliance to health protocols, even if residents are fully vaccinated since infection is still possible. To date, as per City Health Office (CHO) report, approximately 2,000 vaccinated individuals still contracted COVID-19. City Health Officer Dr. Dulce Miravite emphasized that even if the vaccines provide protection against severe symptoms and even death, residents can still be infected who may in turn infect unvaccinated persons. 

The city government is targeting 50 percent fully-vaccinated population by Christmas Day, 2021. (EDT/DIS/PIA9-Zamboanga City, photo courtesy of the City Government of Zamboanga Facebook Page)