Rama, Garganera react to Duque’s statement that ‘there seems to be no improvement’ in Central Visayas

Cebu City Vice Mayor Michael Rama reacts to Health Secretary Francisco Duque III’s statement that there seems to be no improvement in Central Visayas. | Screen grab from live press briefing (file photo)

MANDAUE CITY, Cebu — Cebu City officials have reacted to Department of Health (DOH) Secretary Francisco Duque III’s statement that “there seems to be no improvement” in Central Visayas despite the prolonged imposition of the Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ).

Vice Mayor Michael Rama, who served as acting mayor since the city was reverted to Modified ECQ on August 1, 2021, told CDN Digital that it was unfair to say that there was no improvement, stressing that improvements were not necessarily noticeable.

Though Cebu City hospitals were very much ‘concerned,’ Rama said the bed capacity had always been around, and that hospitals were just in need of systems to address the COVID-19 situation.

He believed that there would be brighter days ahead as the Department continues its hiring of medical personnel, though it was not as fast as it should be.

“So, I don’t think it’s going to be also fair that (there’s) no improvement,” he said, adding that Temporary Treatment Monitoring Facility (TTMF) or isolation centers are always present.

He also mentioned that there was a significant reduction of quarantine violators apprehended by personnel of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO) with the strict implementation of the mandatory stay-at-home order.

Apart from that, he said people were now highly conscious of what it was like to get vaccinated.

The vice mayor, however, said that they would take Health Secretary’s statement as a continuing challenge and prove them wrong.

“We will take his statement a continuing challenge. So (we will) make everything possible… and prove them wrong,” he said, adding that Cebu or Cebu City would be united in the fight against the pandemic no matter what derogatory statements they might receive.

For his part, Cebu City Councilor and Emergency Operations Center Deputy Chief Implementor Joel Garganera said that Dugue was not sure of his statement when he said “there seems to be no improvement.”

Despite that, Garganera said they would continue to strictly implement its protocols and other measures to prevent COVID-19 transmission.

“‘There seems to be no improvement’. So, he is not that sure of his statement. I don’t have to reply but padayon lang gyud ta para ma kontrolar ang transmission sa communidad, strict enforcement, paspas nga contact tracing, pagdungag ug mga medical frontliners sa hospitals ug TTMF, pahingusgan ang pamakuna ug strikto nga pagpatuman sa mga lagda sa Mayor’s EO,” said the councilor.

(‘There seems to be no improvement’. So he is not that sure of his statement. I don’t have to reply but we will just continue [with what we are doing] to control the transmission in the community, strict enforcement, quick contact tracing, adding more medical frontliners in our hospitals and TTMF, intensify our vaccination drive and implementation of the rules of the mayor’s EO.)

Rama also noted that Cebu City is not placed under ECQ, and in fact, there is only nine days left before its MECQ status will end on August 31.

In Cebu Island, which is part of the Central Viayas region, there are areas under MECQ and GCQ with heightened restrictions, but there are no areas under ECQ here.

As of Sunday, August 22, DOH-7 reported 238 new cases in Cebu City, bringing the total number of its active cases to 4,760 while Cebu Province logged the highest number of new cases in the region with 330, bringing the total to 6,044 active cases.

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