QC maintains face mask mandate
STRICTLY “enforce” the use of face masks in the communities.
This is the order issued by Quezon City Mayor Joy Belmonte to the city’s 142 barangay heads as the infection rate of COVID-19 in the city is not slowing down.
At the same time, Belmonte directed the barangay officials to encourage COVID-19 vaccination to prevent the further spread of infections in the city.
“We cannot strictly enforce social distancing because we have just recently reopened our economies, so we are appealing to everyone to mask up and get vaccinated or boosted instead,” said Belmonte in a meeting with barangay officials.
She tasked the Law and Order Cluster, composed of the Department of Public Order and Safety and the “Task Force Disiplina” among others, to intensify its monitoring and enforcement of the “No Face Mask” ordinance to ensure that the public continues to adhere to strict health protocols.
The mayor also assured that the city has enough supply of COVID-19 vaccines for those who have yet to get vaccinated or boosted.
In the same meeting, Dr. Rolando Cruz, head of the City Epidemiology and Disease Surveillance Unit (QCESU), said the city remains under “yellow status” based on the local early warning monitoring system.
According to Cruz, COVID-19 infections in the city almost doubled, with 229 cases recorded from June 8 to 14 – from 146 cases in the previous week.
Aside from the jump in average daily cases, three other indicators have reached the threshold.
The average daily attack rate increased to 1.10%, the average positivity rate climbed to 3.4%, and the forecasted reproduction number is at 2.5%.
“Our monitoring tells us that the [infection rate] is not slowing down. We hope to bring the cases down again before we reach the red status where we can assume community transmission,” said Cruz.
He said that aside from implementing prevention strategies, now is also the critical time for barangays and all relevant city departments to intensify preparedness and response actions such as stocking up Personal Protective Equipment (PPEs) and reopening isolation facilities among others.
