Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia during her regular press conference on August 25, 2021. | Photo from Sugbo News
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on Wednesday, August 25, welcomed the recent stand of the Department of Health (DOH) that lockdowns are not effective in curbing the spread of COVID-19.
“Gikinahanglan ta magbalanse. Balansehon nato. Dunay hagit niining nagkasaka nga kaso sa COVID-19 apan mismo ang Department of Health (DOH) and WHO (World Health Organization) na ang niingon dili usab solusyon ang paglockdown,” said Garcia during her press briefer on Wednesday.
“Kay mas daghan pa hinuun ang mag lisud. Kung mangundang ang trabaho, panginabuhi, mas daghan pa ang mga masakit kay wa nay klarong gikaon. Busa balansehon ta ni,” she added.
Garcia has long been vocal in her position that lockdowns and other strict protocols that limit people’s mobility could only harm the economy, which critics say was a move to downplay the severity of the COVID outbreak in Cebu.
Lately, the DOH admitted that prolonged lockdowns may no longer work in preventing the rapid transmission of COVID-19, especially with the presence of the Delta variant.
In turn, the state’s health department is mulling to reduce the scope of wide-scale lockdowns and reinforce health protocols and other restrictions locally.
Health Sec. Francisco Duque III was also reported to have issued a statement that they observed no improvements in terms of controlling the COVID outbreak when Central Visayas and Northern Mindanao were reverted to stricter quarantine classifications.
In addition, Duque announced he will be conducting an emergency meeting with regional officials of DOH to look into the matter.
DOH-7 has yet to issue its comments on these developments.
Cebu province shifted to a stricter ‘General Community Quarantine with heightened restrictions’ since August 1 in order to stem the rapid increase of infections here.
As of August 23, active cases of COVID-19 in the province stood at 5,545, according to the latest bulletin from DOH-7. /rcg
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