Cimatu wants extended ECQ
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu has recommended a combination of enhanced community quarantine protocols and lockdowns for Cebu City in succeeding days as the city continues to grapple with its COVID-19 problem.
Cimatu is overseeing government response in the city upon instruction of President Rodrigo Duterte.
“Combination sa dalawa. ECQ then pag medyo magdie down na yung sudden increase of cases, ma-maintain pa rin ang lockdown especially dun sa 12 na barangays na sinasabi nila. Hopefully, di na madagdagan itong 12. Ito ang tinututukan natin nagyon dahil dito ang majority of the cases nanggaling dun sa 12 na yan,” Cimatu said during a virtual presser yesterday.
(A combination of the two. ECQ then if the sudden increase of cases will die down, we still maintain lockdowns especially at the 12 barangays that they're saying have the most number of cases. Hopefully, no other barangay will be added. We're giving particular focus on the 12 barangays because majority of the cases are from there.)
Cimatu also said the ECQ must be continued as they have just started implementing protocols properly.
“Continue natin ang ECQ dahil, actually, kakaumpisa pa lang nito, eh. Kasi nung una na ina-nounce itong ECQ, hindi agad naipatupad. Kulang yung mga police. Hindi masyadong na-implement. Ngayon, dumating itong ating additional forces, mga police, medyo may semblance na rin ng compliance. So i-continue muna natin ito dahil ang cases dito ay nagtaas ng husto,” he said.
He pointed out that for the past week, the number of cases of COVID-19 has increased steadily. Just last Monday, the number of deaths doubled, from six to 13. Every 100 people tested, 30 turn out positive.
“Nagtataka ako dito. Bakit, anong diperensya dito? Anong reason?” he said.
(I'm wondering why this is the case. What's the difference here? What's the reason?)
He said the target is to contain the number of cases before relaxing the quarantine status.
“So, itong nakikita ko na i-contain muna ito bago luwagan natin itong ECQ. Tapos, pag niluwagan natin itong ECQ, i-concentrate natin sa lockdwon, itong granular lockdown namin. Dun lang naka focus sa 12 na barangays,” Cimatu said.
(I see that we should contain this first before we loosen up the ECQ status. And when we loosen up the ECQ, we will concentrate on the lockdown, the granular lockdowns focused on the 12 barangays.)
As of yesterday, Cebu city has a total of 5,494 confirmed cases, 2,802 of which are active cases and 2,723 recovered as reported by the City Health Department but also with a total of 169 deaths.
“If that is the case, madami ang namamatay dito sa isang araw. Ang national data for death is only 10 to 11. National yun. Dito sa isang araw lang, 13 kaagad. Medyo, ano pa, nasa pataas pa yung mga namamatay including yung mga cases, tumaas rin kaagad compared to our cases there in NCR, doble,” Cimatu said.
(If that is the case, many die in a day. The national data for death is only at 10 to 11. That's national. Here, it's 13 in a day. The number of deaths and cases is still going up. It's double compared to our numbers in NCR.)
ISOLATION CENTERS
Cimatu is also bent on moving the isolation centers away from the barangays and is looking at converting the Cebu Coliseum as an isolation center to support the NOAH Complex for asymptomatic patients.
“Ang aking ginawa rin, naghanap ako ng ibang structures, facilities na pwedeng gawing isolation kasi ang isolation buildings nila rito ay mga eskwelahan. Ito ay nasa gitna ng barangay. Ito, sinu-suspect ko talaga na ito (is also one of the causes of the spread). Hanap ng medyo malayo-layo sa barangay at dun i-quarantine.”
(I'm looking for other structures, facilities that we can convert into an isolation center because their isolation buildings are schools. These are in the center of the barangays. I really suspect that this is one of the causes of the spread. We will look for an area that's located farther that we can use for quarantine.)
ADVISORY COUNCIL
Cimatu said he also formed an advisory council in Cebu composed of some independent persons, personnel from DOH, military and police, and the business sector.
“Pinag-meetingan namin kung anong mga specific guidelines na-ipoprovide sa mga tao in order for them to follow nitong mga protocols during ECQ,”
(We had a meeting and discussed what specific guidelines we can provide so that people will follow protocols during ECQ.)
This following violations committed by some residents, particularly in Barangay Basak San Nicolas where a religious procession was held and people danced to the Sinulog during a sitio fiesta on June 27.
Yesterday, the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) also served a show cause order on the captain of another barangay, Calamba, following the fiesta celebration and mini disco party at a sitio in the barangay on Sunday, June 28.
Cimatu is also meeting up with the business sector to see what local businesses can do at the moment, as well as the medical sector.
“Nagiging problema dito ang mga low morale ng mga medical practioners dito dahil araw-araw, nagkakaron ng casualties. They were supposed to enjoy already being in a GCQ but all of a sudden, nag-rise immediately… Pero ngayon, medyo nabuhayan naman sila kasi we are doing something about it,” Cimatu said.
(The morale of medical practitioners is low because there are casualties every day and that's a problem. They were supposed to enjoy being in GCQ already but all of a sudden, the number of cases rose. Now, they're starting to get their morale back up knowing that we're doing something about it.)
The Armed Forces of the Philippines has sent a medical team in Cebu City for reinforcement. Doctors to the barrio have also been encouraged to help in the city.
Cimatu is hopeful that the city will be able to “arrest” the spread of the virus through strict compliance of ECQ and health protocols.