Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia meets with municipal and city health officers to discuss COVID-19 measures and protocols. |screengrabbed from FB video
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The local chief executives in Cebu are set to meet this Friday, May 15, 2020, as the province and the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu mark the end a month and a half of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).
The meeting, which will be held in the midwest Cebu town of Balamban, will tackle new policies that the province and the highly urbanized chartered cities will observe as it transitions to general community quarantine on Saturday, May 16.
“Nag-andam na kita sa atong transition gikan sa ECQ ngadto sa GCQ. Duna na kitay giandam nga mga lakang, mga protocols apan gikinahanglan nako niini ang input usab sa mga mayor,” Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said.
(We are preparing for our transition from enhanced community quarantine to general community quarantine. We have prepared steps and protocols but we will also need the insights of the mayors.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque, at noon on Tuesday, announced in a televised presser that Cebu province and the highly urbanized cities of Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue will already transition to GCQ from May 16 to May 31 as these are classified as “moderate risks” areas in view of the spread of the coronavirus disease.
READ: On transition to GCQ: Gwen says ‘It’s about time’
Cebu City which has over 1,600 cases of COVID-19, however, shall remain under a modified ECQ from May 16 until May 31.
Prior to the Palace’s announcement, Garcia has already said she was in favor of shifting to GCQ as the province, which has a population of over three million, has kept its COVID-19 cases “at a minimum.”
As of May 12, Cebu province has a total of 55 cases, 37 of which are inmates of the Cebu Provincial Detention and Rehabilitation Center located in Barangay Kalunasan, Cebu City.
Garcia said the mayors of Cebu City, Lapu-Lapu and Mandaue will be joining her meeting with the other mayors of different towns in order to iron out the policies that fit each LGU.
In previous announcements, Garcia said border restrictions will remain even after the province shifts to GCQ. /bmjo