Parts of Mandaue City and Lapu-Lapu City are seen in this photo taken on September 26, 2020. CDN Digital photo | Brian J. Ochoa
CEBU CITY, Philippines—Due to the continuous increase of COVID-19 infections, two of Cebu’s largest cities were reverted back to stricter community quarantine status.
Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque on Thursday dawn, July 29, 2021, announced that the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) recommended putting Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu City under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).
The new status will take effect this August 1 and will last until August 15.
President Rodrigo Duterte approved the new quarantine statuses recommended by the national government’s anti-COVID task force.
Other localities shifting to MECQ included Ilocos Norte and Bataan.
Cebu City and Cebu province, which were not mentioned during the presentation of the new quarantine classification on Thursday, remained under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ).
Metro Manila and its four adjacent provinces — also known as the National Capital Region (NCR) Plus — will be under general community quarantine (GCQ) “with heightened restrictions” starting August 1.
Iloilo province, Iloilo City, Cagayan de Oro City, and Gingoog — all of which have been under ECQ, the strictest classification, since July 16 — will retain their status until August 7.
On the other hand, shortly before Malacañang made the announcement, the Department of Health (DOH) debunked reports circulating online that the entire Cebu will be placed under ECQ from August 1 to August 7.
Cebu island is currently experiencing rise of new COVID-19 cases, with several local governments, including the capital Cebu City, reinstating stricter protocols to curb the spread of the infection.
Health experts here also expressed alarm as hospitals ‘are full to the brim’ with COVID-19 patients seeking hospitalization. with reports from INQUIRER.net
/bmjo
READ MORE: Hospital occupancy on the rise but officials say ‘outbreak still manageable’