Acting Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama (left) says he will issue an executive order outlining the policies of the extended MECQ of Cebu City. | screen grab from Rama presscon
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama is preparing to issue an Executive Order (EO) to lay down policies for the extended modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ).
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has maintained an MECQ for Cebu City until August 31, 2021.
Rama said that though he did not expect the extension, the figures showed that the city was not yet recovering.
“The figure that we have shows that it (situation) is not yet improving. (That is) unless we will have sufficient medical staff,” said Rama in a press briefing on August 13, 2021.
According to the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) data, the hospital occupancy rate is now at 74 percent, nearing the overwhelmed rate of 80 percent.
The active cases are still at an upward trend now at 3,806, while casualties have reached 95 deaths for August 2021 alone.
With this, Rama said he would be forming a task force to both enforce specific restrictions and at the same time mitigate the impact of the surge.
“We are gearing towards at 80-20 solution, giving public health 80 percent consideration, while keeping 20 percent of our economy still in operation,” said Rama.
Rama said that the city would not want to be placed under MECQ longer than it should and would implement stringent measures starting next week to get the cases down.
He urged the public to stay at home, follow health protocols, and get vaccinated.
“Be assured more vaccines will come, and we’ll open more vaccination centers. We’ll have cluster vaccinations in three hinterland barangays this weekend. House calls are now in progress, while we await the NOAH drive thru,” said Rama.
The acting mayor also encouraged patience for those waiting for their schedules as the city government continues to appeal for vaccines from the national government.
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