Police Colonel Josefino Ligan, chief of Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) together with Police Major Juanito Alaras of Mabolo Police station, conduct a foot patrol inside Sitio Zapatera, Barrio Luz, which was placed under a lockdown on Sunday, April 12, 2020 due to the two positive cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the area| Photo courtesy of CCPO
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Cebu City Health Department (CHD) wants the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) to be extended for at least two more weeks following the rise of cases of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the barangays.
Cebu City recorded six new cases for the first day of mass testing and five of these are in Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz. Another one was recorded in Sitio A. Lopez Street in Barangay Labangon.
Both sitios are now under total lockdown to prevent the movement of people and the spread of the virus.
Cebu City Health Officer Daisy Villa said that the city has not reached the peak of the COVID-19 cases yet with more cases being discovered every day. The mass testing has just begun and this has caused new cases to surface.
“We will be suggesting to extend the enhanced community quarantine for at least two weeks. We don’t recommend a whole month of extension, just two weeks to assess the situation. We have not yet reached the peak of the cases in Cebu, we need more time,” said Villa.
As of now, the CHD continues to conduct mass testing for the barangays with already positive cases as they are most likely to have persons under monitoring (PUMs).
Villa said the lifting of the enhanced community quarantine must be carefully studied as of now, and extending it must already be discussed by the city government even before April 28, 2020.
She said CHD needs more time to study the trend of the COVID-19 cases and wait for the cases to subside in order to start lifting the ECQ.
Still, she said there is no need for another month-long ECQ if the city flattens the curve of cases. For this to happen, she said the cooperation of the community is important.
“Stay at home,” said Villa. /rcg