Labella reminds Cebuanos: Be more vigilant, cooperate to continue flattening the curve

An aerial shot over Cebu City taken on Wednesday, July 22, 2020.

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Now that Cebu City has flattened the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) curve, it should work to keep it that way.

Retired Major General Melquiades Feliciano, the deputy chief implementor of the Interagency Task Force (IATF) in the Visayas, noted on Thursday, August 20, 2020, the massive drop of active cases in the city to 1,270 and the reduction of the positivity rate to 4.1 percent in the last month.

Read: Positivity rate of Cebu City goes down to 4.1% — Feliciano

Mayor Edgardo Labella said flattening the curve is an achievement of the entire city, with cooperation from all sectors, especially the residents.

But he asked Cebuanos to continue to cooperate with the government’s fight against the deadly virus to be able to maintain the low number of active cases.

“We need to take this as a challenge. We need to be more vigilant and maintain the health protocol because we have to continue flattening the curve,” said Labella.

The mayor urged the public to strictly wear masks, face shields, maintain social distancing, disinfect regularly, and go to the cluster clinics once they feel symptoms of the disease.

Labella also reminded the public that no matter what quarantine status the city is in, the virus still remains and only cooperation can deter its spread.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, the overseer of the IATF in Cebu, said that Cebu City’s success strategy is now being replicated in Metro Manila, which is seeing a rise in COVID-19 cases.

“Sinasabi na nila na ‘tignan nyo ano ginawa nila sa Cebu, gawin din natin.’ Nagiging ‘by-word’ na ang Cebu City,” said Cimatu.

(They are saying, ‘Look at what is happening in Cebu, let us follow.’ Cebu City has become a ‘by-word’ for them.) /bmjo