Cebu City’s new COVID-19 cases are local transmissions
A building in the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command in Camp Lapulapu has been placed under lockdown due to the emergence of positive cases there.| CDN Digital file photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Emergency Operations Center (EOC) said that the slight spike of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Cebu City on September 16, 2020, were all local transmissions.
Councilor Joel Garganera said that most of the cases were recorded in Barangay Apas including the Armed Forces of the Philippines Central Command in Camp Lapulapu, where a building had been placed on lockdown due to the emergence of positive cases.
A total of 15 active cases were recorded at the Central Command prompting the EOC to quarantine the area.
Apas now leads in the most number of active cases in the city with a total of 51 new cases recorded from September 3 to September 16, 2020, or a span of 14 days, but less than 40 of these cases remain active in the barangay.
Read: 41 new cases in Cebu City as Region 7 breaches 20K mark
The total new cases for September 16 included mountain barangays that have recently been declared COVID-19 free including Barangays Cambinocot, Budlaan, and Kalunasan, which had recorded two new cases each.
This means that only 33 barangays are left COVID-free as of September 17, 2020.
“Mao nay usa sa atong tan-awon kay sa bukid medyo menos ang compliance didto. Ato sila dapat mahinumduman ngadto nga mofollow gyod sa health protocols,” said Garganera.
(We have seen in the mountain barangays, their compliance is slightly less. We need to remind them to follow the health protocols.)
Read: Cebu City EOC: No backlogs in contact tracing
The EOC said that so far, the contact tracing and the implementation of the lockdowns of the areas affected by the 37 new cases on Wednesday had been smooth as the patients and establishments had been cooperative.
None of the new cases are locally stranded individuals, who arrived recently in Cebu, although a total of 12 LSIs had proven positive to the virus before.
Mayor Edgardo Labella said the slight spike of cases was expected with intensified contact tracing.
He urged the public to be even more vigilant because as more people go out under the modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the higher the risk of transmission.
“We should never put our guard down,” said the mayor.
Read: Task Force Kasaligan to start arresting violators this week
To prevent further transmission, the mayor has asked the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) to intensify patrols and even to hire additional forces for Task Force Kasaligan, the community-based augmentation force of the city, to uphold the quarantine protocols.
In particular, he ordered more patrols in Barangay Mabolo and some southern barangays because he personally witnessed people breaking the quarantine protocols.
The mayor reminded the public that their cooperation was essential to keeping the virus at bay./dbs
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