All offices under the City of Silay in Negros Occidental have been placed under a five-day zoning containment starting Wednesday for various measures to curb the transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).
In Special Executive Order 2022-01-01, Mayor Mark Golez said the temporary lockdown will give way for the extensive contact tracing as well as disinfection and sanitation of the city government buildings, offices, and annexes.
“There is a need to strategically contain possible transmissions in the offices of the Silay City Government and at the same time efficiently minimize hampering vital functions and services, most especially in this time of crisis,” he added.
On January 17, two employees tested positive for Covid-19 while several employees of various offices, along with their household members, have also shown symptoms.
Golez said during the lockdown period, the City Health Office, together with the City Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office and Covid-19 Task Force, will do extensive contact tracing of all affected persons and disinfecting of affected areas.
The mayor also prohibited the entry of any person to the affected areas except for city government employees, including job order workers, who will form part of the skeleton workforce.
“All officials, employees and workers affected (by the temporary lockdown) are required to undergo strict home quarantine measures for the same period mentioned and to exercise minimum health and safety standards to prevent further transmission of Covid-19,” Golez said.
He added that the work-from-home or on-call skeleton force will facilitate urgent and critical transactions only to ensure unhampered delivery of public service.
The latest available data posted by the Silay City Covid-19 Task Force showed there are 81 active cases in the city as of 3 p.m. of January 17.
Source: Philippines News Agency