FILE PHOTO: Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama is urging Cebuanos to get vaccinated against COVID-19 amid the recent rise of infections in the country. NEXU Science Communication/via REUTERS
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City Mayor Michael Rama continues to encourage Cebuanos to avail of the free vaccination against COVID-19.
Rama made the call amid the recorded rise of COVID-19 positivity rates in several areas of the country.
Rama, in a phone interview with CDN Digital, on May 2, 2023, said that the city government will continue with its “bakuna bonanza” program to entice the public to get vaccinated against COVID-19.
The mayor also said that whatever the city government will do in the future to address the increase of COVID-19 cases will be attuned with other local government units in Cebu or the whole “One Cebu Island.”
When asked what his personal opinion is about the likelihood of face mask use being required again in the country, he responded: “I wish it should not anymore be because kabalo ka nga daghan kaayong mga ginganlan og opportunists.”
He said he is a “bit confused” about the signals that the national government has been showing with regard to COVID-19 development.
“They should be consistent enough. They should be truthful enough, and they should also be holistic as far as our approach should not only be that ang atoang mga data gikan [lang] sa DOH (Department of Health),” he said.
“We have to listen to all sectors kay ang DOH ra ba dili man na sila ang manghatag og kwarta inig pang close sa mga tindahan. Dili man na sila muhatag og sweldo. Mao ng atong gihatagan og consideration jud ang kinatibuk-an,” he added.
The DOH, in earlier reports, however, said that the COVID-19 positivity rate alone cannot fully determine the country’s pandemic status.
Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, in a national interview, said that the rate is only calculated based on a small fraction of the total number of RT-PCR tests conducted last year.
The health utilization rate also remains low across the country. /rcg
READ:
COVID-19 cases declining in Cebu City? Too early to tell, says EOC
IATF retains COVID-19 alert level in most parts of PH; some restrictions in effect