Mayor wants stricter quarantine status for Baguio

Sept. 6, 2021 – Mayor Benjamin Magalong wants to place Baguio City under a stricter quarantine status of General Community Quarantine with heightened restrictions to facilitate the implementation of more stringent control measures to manage the surge in Coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases currently being experienced in the city.

He said that although the city had tightened some of its quarantine rules since two weeks ago to a degree similar to that imposed under stricter quarantine status, a formal declaration is necessary to enable the city to carry out the restrictions in full force.

He said he had relayed the request to Dept. of Interior and Local Government Cordillera OIC-Regional Director (RD) Araceli San Jose.

The mayor said the city now averages more than 890 cases per week and he had reasons to believe that Delta is now the dominant variant in the city based on indicators and circumstances.

“As I keep on repeating, the worst is yet to come with regards to the Delta variant.  So the best thing apart from the observance the minimum public health standards, is for us to adopt more restrictions,” he said.

The mayor spearheaded early preparations for the Delta variant as early as July to delay the spread of the more severe and infectious variant which he believes will have greater and longer impact than what the city experienced last March and April believed to be driven by the Alpha and Beta variants. – Aileen Refuerzo