Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia is encouraging the 44 towns and seven component cities of Cebu to join hands in prayer asking the Señor Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe for protection against the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).| CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Capitol is asking local government units (LGUs) here to “join hands in prayer” that the cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infection here will not spike amid intensified testings.
Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said the Capitol would be relaying a common prayer to its 44 towns and seven component cities to implore the protection of Señor Santo Niño and the Our Lady of Guadalupe, the patroness of Cebu.
“We will be asking our LGUs to join hands in a common prayer that we shall be sending to all our LGUs so that we may consecrate the province of Cebu to our dear Lady and to our Lord,” Garcia said.
As of Thursday, April 2, 2020, the number of confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cebu province is nailed at three.
Read: COVID-19 cases in C. Visayas now at 34; 4 recoveries and no mortality reported
The subnational laboratory of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) released the results of 65 samples that they have tested. Of the number, 30 samples were from the towns in Cebu province but all of them returned negative.
“We hope and pray that we stay that way kay bisag unsa pa atong buhaton ang Ginoo man gyud na ang magbuot,” Garcia said.
The only positive case that is added to the COVID-19 statistics here on April 2 is a that of a patient in Cebu City.
This development brings the number of cases in the region to 34. These cases include 22 from Cebu City, four in Negros Oriental, three in Cebu province, two in Lapu-Lapu City, and one each in Mandaue City and Bohol province.
At present, there are already 10,640 persons under monitoring (PUMs) in Cebu province.
Garcia explained that the high number of PUMs in the province is due to the contact tracing of the previous cases and the continuing mandatory quarantine of those who arrived in Cebu prior to the declaration of the enhanced community quarantine.
There are also 73 patients admitted in the different hospitals in the province due to severe acute respiratory infection (SARI) and 20 admitted patients due to influenza-like illnesses (ILIs.) At leasts 185 ILIs in Cebu province are also under home isolation./dbs