DILG Chief Says Cebu On Lockdown Due To Spike In COVID-19 Cases
CEBU ON LOCKDOWN – The entirety of Cebu City has been placed under lockdown as the number of coronavirus cases rockets.
READ: Cebu City Records Highest COVID-19 Cases In Philippines
The Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año said that this time, people need to be quarantined in their homes.
Under ECQ iyan at magdadagdag pa tayo ng mga pulis dito pati kagawad ng Armed Forces para makatulong dito kasi nakita natin na kailangan talagang mag-quarantine ang mga tao sa kani-kanilang bahay… Bawal talaga lumabas
Meanwhile, Cebu City police chief Col. Cydric Tamayo explained that the lockdown imposed on Cebu wasn’t a “hard lockdown”. He said it was merely a stricter measure of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ). According to an article from ABS-CBN, Tamayo said:
Stricter measure lang siya (suspension ng quarantine pass). Hindi po siya masabi nating — nagkakaroon ng confusion iyong hard lockdown. I-implement lang natin iyong ECQ
Recently, President Rodrigo Duterte placed Cebu City under the ECQ. As such, non-essential businesses and establishments would be forced to suspend operations indefinitely. However, workers of essential businesses and authorized industries may still go out of their homes.
In addition to the stricter measures, the Department of Health (DOH) would also increase medical workers in Cebu City. Futhermore, Año said that these extra workers would be housed in hotels or other facilities close to their hospitals.
Cebu City has surpassed the 4,000 coronavirus cases mark. This prompted major concerns from President Rodrigo Duterte. However, officials from Cebu have attributed the increase in the number of cases to aggressive testing.
Additionally, they aim to downgrade the quarantine level from ECQ to GCQ within 14 days.
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