Culion was once an island being feared by most of the people. It was named as an island of no return or an island of the living dead. It has become an island exclusive for the person who suffers from the Leprosy Disease in 1906 and called it “Leprosarium”. Culion was found to be the ideal island to be used on leprosy outbreaks because there is less population on the island and to separate the carrier of disease from spreading to others. The island has a huge part of the history in the Philippines.

Earlier this month, the City of Puerto Princesa had suggested the Regional Inter-Agency Task Force- Palawan (RIATF) to put them under ECQ as the number of active cases of the Coronavirus continues to rise. The City has been put on ECQ that started from April 16 and will last until April 30.

In the following week, the government of Culion also made a choice to lift some of the Barangays to an ECQ and other parts in Barangay Jardin, due to the surge of covid19 cases. The major number of the cases came from Barangay Osmeña and parts of Barangay Jardin including Sugod, Baybay, Upper and Lower Bayanihan was put under ECQ on April 25. Meanwhile, the Barangay Balala, Baldat, Culango, Libis, and Tiza were removed on ECQ based on Executive Order No. 72, Series of 2021, and will continue to monitor the close contact persons that went negative on initial and repeat swabbing. On the other hand, the rest of the barangays are on General Community Quarantine (GCQ) to ensure the safety of the residents. The local transmission started on April 10 wherein two front-liners turned out to be positive for the disease.

Since most of the part of Culion was severely affected by the disease, the Palawan Social Welfare Office has prepared food packs for them. The PSWO will give 1,000 family food packs, in addition to the 2,200 food packages, 400 sacks of rice, 14 sets of kitchen supplies, 150 Rapid Antigen Testing Kits, 5000 pcs of surgical facemasks at dozens of coverall PPEs were already sent to the island town in the Calamianes Islands Group. The Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Office (PDRRMO) will supervise the provision of relief goods to the municipality. Even after the Memorandum Order No. 77 that was issued by Governor Jose Alvarez suspends the work at the Capitol but work continues for PSWDO to help the affected residents of Culion.

Based on the latest report ofCulion Municipal Health And Nutrition Office, there are 47 active cases of coronavirus that were monitored at the Temporary Treatment and Monitoring Facilities in Culion. They also stated “Inaaasahan pa rin po ng LGU Culion ang kooperasyon at pangunawa ng bawat isa sa mga nagaganap na paghihigpit sa ating bayan. Manatili po muna tayo sa ating mga tahanan habang wala pang abiso ang Lokal na pamahalaan ng Culion. Mag antabay lang po sa mga update patungkol dito”.