Gwen welcomes May 15 extension of ECQ
Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia welcomed the decision of Malacañang to extend the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ) in Cebu to May 15.
At a press conference aired online Friday, April 24, Garcia said the move from the national government would enable stakeholders here to have ample time to prepare for a possible modified ECQ.
“The May 15 extension will give us further protection, and breathing space to prepare on what to do when the ECQ will be modified,” said Garcia in a mix of Cebuano and English.
The Provincial Government of Cebu, however, has been implementing an indefinite ECQ.
“As you very well know, we don’t have a specific date on ECQ because it is a very volatile situation. It is very difficult to put a certain date for this kind of situation,” Garcia explained.
Cebu, including Cebu City, and 28 other provinces in the country are classified as high risk to the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic, which has infected over 7,000 individuals as of Friday.
As a result, the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IAFT-EID), the national government’s decision-making body on the COVID-19 crisis, recommended for prolonging the ECQ in high-risk areas to May 15.
Cebu on Friday has close to 400 confirmed coronavirus cases, more than half of which are reported in Cebu City. The Cebu City government, however, has decided to extend its ECQ to May 15 last April 21, or a few days before Malacañang made the announcement.
But as the ECQ in the island is expected to stay for a few weeks, Garcia encouraged the public to start developing the means to cope with the inevitable transition from ECQ to modified ECQ, the latter, which is also dubbed as ‘the new normal’.
“The fact that they have placed a date already, it signals that by May 16, we should have already laid down the groundwork for a modified ECQ,” Garcia said.
She added that members of the private sector should also look into venturing into more sustainable and self-sufficient businesses once the modified ECQ becomes the new norm. / dbs
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