Talibon Mayor Janette Garcia says that she has already lifted the lockdown in the island barangay of Guindacpan the place registered zero new active coronavirus disease (Covid) cases.

The lifting of the lockdown order was made on Tuesday, Sept. 15, 2020.

This information of the lifting of the lockdown in Guindacpan Island was relayed by Mayor Garcia to the public during a virtual presser produced by the provincial government on Thursday, Sept. 17, 2020.

Despite the lifting of the lockdown, Garcia said that stricter measures remain in place such as the implementation of the quarantine pass and other health and safety protocols.

Moreover, the Mayor said that strict border control remains not just in Guindacpan but in all island barangays of Talibon. This is to prevent a repeat of the surge of cases that happened in Guindacpan.

In the virtual presser, Garcia reported that there are only two (2) active Covid cases that have remained in Talibon and both patients are already in isolation at the Garcia Memorial Provincial Hospital.

The town has recorded a total of 69 Covid cases, Garcia bared in the virtual presser.

Moreover, the current active Covid cases in Talibon are not from Guindacpan but from another barangay, the mayor during the virtual presser narrated.

Furthermore, Garcia reiterated the intensified security being done
on the island barangays and on the mainland area to prevent unauthorized entry of persons coming from other islands outside of Bohol. Geographically, Talibon is a few minutes drive from Cebu province via pumpboat.

She emphasized that stricter measures are put in place to control the entry and exit points to and from the island barangays of the town.

UNDETERMINED

Garcia said that local authorities are still trying to determine the identity of the person that started the spread of the virus causing the chain of community transmissions in the town, particularly in
Guindacpan.

In the same presser, the mayor commented that she suspects that person/s who has/have illegally entered the town via the island barangay or locally stranded individuals that enter Talibon without proper coordination may be the ones who have started the chain of community transmissions.

It is also possible, Garcia said, that the transmission of the virus may have been caused by residents that would meet people outside the province to sell their fish catch.

It is possible that the residents would meet people from known Covid hotspots (such as Cebu) and would do business transactions in the middle of the sea to avoid detection by law enforcers.