Granular lockdown eyed in Cebu City barangays with most number of COVID-19 cases

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu. | file photo

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, the overseer of Interagency Task Force (IATF) in Cebu, said that they have identified some barangays here that may be placed under granular lockdown here due to high number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The secretary said  the best strategy the city can apply moving forward with the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic is to contain the lockdown to smaller areas where there are a lot of cases.

Read: Granular lockdowns for barangays in Cebu City—Cimatu

The barangay chiefs have already been appraised of their role as the primary implementors of the lockdowns in their respective jurisdictions.

Cimatu said that the granular lockdown will be covered in an Executive Order that Mayor Edgardo Labella will be releasing in the next few days.

There are 21 barangays (villages) with the highest number of active cases in a period of three days that may be subjected for the granular lockdowns.

Here is the list of these barangays with their corresponding number of COVID-19 cases:

• Lahug – 38
• Guadalupe – 29
• Capitol Site – 23
• Talamban – 23
• Kamputhaw – 18
• Mabolo – 18
• Poblacion Pardo – 17
• Tisa – 17
• Sambag 1 – 15
• Apas – 14
• Labangon – 12
• Basak Pardo – 11
• Cogon Ramos – 10
• Punta Princesa – 10
• Sambag 2 – 9
• Quiot – 9
• Zapatera – 8
• Banilad – 7
• Hipodromo – 7
• Basak San Nicholas – 7
• Cogon Pardo – 7

The Cebu City government will assist the locked down areas in terms of provisions and security aided by the Philippine National Police (PNP) and the Armed Forces of the Philippines (AFP).

The granular lockdown at the sitio level will be implemented by the Barangay Captain and there should be a Barangay Lockdown plan prior to the lockdown.

While the granular lockdown is implemented in a sitio or purok, business enterprise or economy will continue based on the IATF guidelines under the MECQ, but these will be strictly monitored.

The members of the Cebu City Council have also been assigned to supervise all COVID-19 related activities in a cluster of five barangays.

Cimatu hopes that the attitude of the residents will change and will be more responsive to the city’s interventions against the COVID-19.

“I am positive that the city will be downgraded by August if this trend continues,” said the secretary. /bmjo