Cebu City residents told: Expect ‘stricter enforcement’ of health protocols

Skyline of uptown Cebu City | CDN Digital

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Expect stricter enforcement of existing health protocols in Cebu City.

Local officials and law enforcers vowed to intensify efforts in making sure minimum health standards and quarantine restrictions would be complied with as the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases here had continued to rise.

“It will be strict enforcement of the health protocols. Each station commander (of the Cebu City Police) will meet each barangay captain and coordinate on how to implement our existing rules and regulations,” said Councilor Joel Garganera in Cebuano.

Garganera heads the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), the committee dedicated to addressing the COVID-19 outbreak.

EOC held a press conference on Monday, January 25 where they announced that they planned to penalize parents of minors caught violating quarantine restrictions and health protocols.

“The parents could face a penalty of either paying a fine or do community service,” said Garganera.

The Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), who was also present during Monday’s press briefer, said they requested Mayor Edgardo Labella to reinstate a longer curfew time by moving it to an earlier time, beginning at 10 p.m. instead of 11 p.m.

READ MORE: CCPO wants old 10PM curfew back

Government officials are also keeping a close eye on business establishments, particularly restaurants and bars which were the subject of recent police-led operations against quarantine violators.

Lawyer Jared Limquiaco, chief of the city’s Business Permit and Licensing Office (BPLO), warned business owners to police their own properties.

Limquiaco said during the same press conference that they were processing for the revocation of a business permit of an establishment that was among the 14 issued with a show-cause order for allegedly violating health protocols.

“This is a warning to all business establishments that we will not hesitate to revoke your licenses to serve liquor or business permits if proper health measures are not being followed,” he added.

The city government also ordered stricter enforcement of the face-mask policy inside Carbon Public Market, the city’s largest public wet market, by apprehending both marketgoers and vendors not properly wearing face masks.

Police Captain Alvin Llamedo, chief of Carbon Police Station, said they would be deploying more police officers in line with the city’s new instructions.

Since January 1, data from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), compiled by CDN Digital, showed that Cebu City had registered 1,052 new cases of COVID-19.

Officials earlier have confirmed that the city is experiencing a post-holiday surge.

But both the EOC and DOH-7 said the sudden rise of newly infected patients this month was not yet alarming, stating that the outbreak remained at manageable levels.

Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, spokesperson of DOH-7, however, said the increase in the figures was ‘worrisome’.

“We will closely monitor this development in the coming days,” said Loreche.

For his part, Garganera said with stricter implementation of health protocols, they hoped the number of COVID-19 cases in Cebu City would decrease in the next weeks.

Data from DOH-7 showed that the city had 908 active COVID-19 cases as of January 24, 2021. Active cases refer to patients still infected with SARS-CoV-2. /dbs

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