Ferro firm on recommendation of gradual downgrade of Cebu City’s quarantine status

Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7) inspects Barangay Basak San Nicolas in Cebu City in this June 29, 2020 photo.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Police Brigadier General Albert Ignatius Ferro, director of the Police Regional Office in Central Visayas (PRO-7), remains firm on his recommendation to have a gradual downgrade of the quarantine status in Cebu City.

A day before the Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) decides on what the status Cebu City will be placed under, Ferro said a gradual lockdown would be what he would recommend to the IATF, recalling the last time the city was immediately downgraded to a lighter general community quarantine (GCQ) status, wherein the number of confirmed cases rose after that.

Read: Ferro to recommend gradual downgrade of Cebu City ECQ

“I have to be honest, we need to have a gradual downgrade because we have a big problem when [we shifted to GCQ right away],” he said.

Cebu City is currently under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and Ferro believes it would be better if the IATF places the city under modified ECQ first before GCQ.

“What I am referring to is a gradual transition, maybe modified ECQ, then after one week GCQ, then after one week MGCQ,” said Ferro.

According to Ferro, the city needs to prepare for the GCQ to make sure that there will be no spike in the number of cases after that.

Ferro said that the downgrade status should also be based on how capable the public is when it comes to following health protocols as well as the capability of the hospitals to handle more cases. /bmjo