Regional IATF lifts total lockdown in 5 areas in Cebu City

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(Updated 3:30 p.m., July 13, 2020) CEBU CITY, Philippines – The regional counterpart of the national government’s anti-coronavirus task force has lifted the hard lockdown on five communities here that was hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) outbreak.

The Regional Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Disease (RIATF-MEID) issued its recent resolution on Monday, July 13, 2020, effectively lifting the total lockdown in Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz; Sitio Gonzalo in Barangay Tejero; Sitio Alaska in Barangay Mambaling; Sitio Callejon in Barangay Labangon; and Barangay Bacayan.

These areas were previously considered as COVID-19 hotspots in Cebu City after health experts documented a high number of confirmed cases.

“RIATF-MEID favorably acted on the request of the Cebu City Government based on the data presented by the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) which forms part of this resolution, wherein the latter recommended for the lifting of hard lockdown in the abovementioned areas,” read portions of the three-page resolution.

The document was signed by officer-in-charge of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) in Cebu City lawyer Ian Kenneth Lucero and the department’s regional director Leocadio Trovela, who sits as the RIATF chairperson.

In the same resolution, however, the RIATF stated that local officials should continue to monitor and evaluate the situation of these communities. Barangay officials, in their respective social media pages, also urged their constituents to continue observing health protocols, especially that the entire Cebu City remained under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). /bmjo

Read: Ano: ‘Localized’ lockdown best approach to contain COVID-19