Environment Secretary Roy A. Cimatu, who was tasked by President Duterte to implement the government’s Covid-19 response in Cebu City, is eyeing stricter lockdown measures to fight the further spread of the virus in population.
At a Zoom meeting with reporters on Thursday morning, Cimatu said more police and military troops will also be deployed to augment the local policemen assigned in Cebu City, a bustling metropolis with close to a million population, which recently experienced a big jump in Covid-19 cases.
The dreaded disease continues to grip the city, according to the Department of Health. As of June 24, there are a total of 32,295 confirmed cases, 8,656 recovered, and 1,204 deaths. On the same day, Cebu City recorded 4,479 cases, 89 deaths and 2,177 recoveries.
According to Cimatu at least 12 of the 80 barangays in Cebu City have been identified “hot spots” for Covid-19 cases. He issues the assessment following a meeting with members of the Covid-19 Task Force in Region 7 on Wednesday, including Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella.
“The entire city is now under ECQ [enhanced community quarantine], that means lockdown,” he said. Cimatu added he is eyeing stricter “lockdown” measures for the (12 barangays) to prevent further spread of the dreaded disease.
The 12 barangays are Sambang II, Kamputhaw, Sambag I, Basak San Nicolas, Mabolo, Guadalupe, Lahug, Buljo Fatima, Tinago, Tisa, Ermita and Tejero. These barangays have been identified as those with “high numbers of Covid-19 infected cases.”
However, Cimatu said, there’s a need to harmonize the data coming from the barangays, the city and the Department of Health.
“We need to harmonize the data because we are getting different numbers,” he said.
According to Cimatu, 160 Philippine National Police Special Action Force (PNP-SAF) troopers and 200 more policemen from different units of the PNP from the Visayas will be deployed to ensure that the ECQ rules are observed.
On top of this, military personnel from Cebu, Bohol, and Siquijor will be asked to join the reinforcement for the city.
The quarantine passes in Cebu City were revoked on Wednesday, hence, placing the entire city’s 80 barangays under total lockdown anew.
Cimatu and Labella said their first order in their next meeting will include the distribution of the new quarantine passes, as well as a schedule of days and the limited number of hours people will be allowed to go out and operating hours of grocery stores and markets.
Meanwhile, the DENR chief said the economic impact of the implementation of the “total lockdown” in the city will be addressed.
Cimatu said on Wednesday he held a multi-party stakeholders meeting in Cebu City, including the private sector, during which they were informed of the decision to implement stricter lockdown measures.
Labella, for his part, said that the private sector is willing and able to provide the much-needed assistance as experienced during the first time the city was placed under ECQ.
Meanwhile, to discourage the people from violating ECQ measures, Cimatu and Labella agreed that stiffer penalty should be imposed.
Among the “stricter measures” being eyed is to limit the number ECQ pass holders to just one per family. The ECQ pass holder will also have a schedule during which he or she will be allowed to leave the house “only to buy essential goods.”
Operation of grocery stores and public markets will also have a strict schedule to be decided later on by the task force to limit interaction of grocery or market-goers.
Meanwhile, Cimatu said members of the Task Force Covid-19 will meet on Thursday afternoon to finalize the plan to distribute new IDs, or ECQ passes.
“Unlike before that the issuance is relegated only to the barangays, the police will now be part of the ECQ pass distribution,” Labella added.
Labella said minimum health requirements will be imposed, such as the proper wearing of face masks and social distancing, to those who will be allowed to go outside their homes.
“There will be no touching of ears, eyes, and nose, as a minimum health protocol,” he added.
The city, the mayor said, is ready to distribute food packs anew to the city’s residents, recognizing its potential economic impact to those who will again be placed out of work with the implementation of the ECQ.
Nevertheless, he said, the people, as well as the private sector, are aware of the implications.
“We have experienced this when the ECQ was first imposed in Metro Manila, and we are aware of the implications,” he said.
Labella said the Office of the Presidential Adviser for the Visayas has already donated 1 million surgical face masks and an additional 1 million more from the local government will be ready for distribution to city residents.