BOUNDARIES CLOSED. First two of the 14-page Executive Order No. 5-O signed by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia implementing the enhanced community quarantine in Cebu starting at 12:01 a.m. on Monday. Garcia also ordered the closure of the boundaries of the cities of Mandaue and Talisay and the town of Balamban shared with Cebu City, as part of heightened effort to contain the coronavirus disease (Covid-19), in view of the Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas report of 18 confirmed cases at the capital city. (PNA photo by John Rey Saavedra)
MINGLANILLA, Cebu — As the Department of Health (DOH)-Region 7 on Saturday reported 18 coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Cebu City out of the total 25 cases recorded in Central Visayas, Governor Gwendolyn Garcia on Sunday ordered the closure of boundaries shared by some localities with the city.
“When the clock strikes 12 o’clock tonight, the provincial government will close its boundaries on Cebu City. Public transport will come to a halt, and movement of people will be limited with the use of quarantine passes,” a report posted on Cebu Provincial Capitol’s official news site, Sugbo News, said.
Garcia issued Executive Order (EO) 5-N imposing the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) in different towns and cities in the province and EO 5-O enumerating the individuals and establishments exempted from it.
She ordered the Philippine National Police (PNP) to set up checkpoints in the cities of Talisay and Mandaue that shared the southern and northern boundaries with Cebu City, respectively, and the town of Balamban where the Transcentral Highway connects it with the city.
“This is for the protection of Cebu and the Cebuanos. First and foremost, I must act in the interest of Cebu and the Cebuanos,” Garcia said, adding that “this is no longer to mitigate. This is already to contain.”
The DOH-7 Covid-19 bulletin No. 2 as of 5 p.m. on Saturday reported three additional confirmed cases in Cebu City which brings the total number of cases in Central Visayas to 25, from the 22 reported on Friday.
Of the number, 18 cases are from Cebu City, two in Lapu-Lapu City, and one each in Cordova, Mandaue and in Bohol, and two from Negros Oriental.
Patient CV07-CC, a 65-year-old male, died on Monday (March 23), while Patient CV17-CC, a 66-year-old female, died last Friday (March 27), the DOH-7 said in its official social media page.
DOH-7 record showed that two of the 18 cases in Cebu City have expired, bringing the total number of deaths in the region to four. The first reported deaths were from Negros Oriental.
The three new cases were part of the 43 cases submitted to the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, the designated subnational laboratory for Covid-19 in the Visayas. The remaining 40 were tested negative.
Because of the lockdown, Garcia directed owners of business establishments, especially the business processing outsourcing (BPO) firms in Cebu City, to provide temporary shelters to their workers who could no longer go home to their respective towns and cities outside the capital.
“The mandatory home quarantine for all residents of Cebu Province is meant to reduce risk of exposure or transmission of the COVID virus, but measures are put in place to make sure that the public will have access to basic services despite limited movement and reduction of workforce in the private sector,” the report said.
The EO allowed banks, money remittance centers and other financial institutions, pharmacies, groceries, supermarkets, and public markets in component cities and towns to remain open on a skeletal force.
The provincial government will convert gyms or multipurpose buildings near town halls into a “Bagsakan Center” where basic commodities such as rice, milk, coffee, noodles and canned goods can be sold at affordable prices.
Although funeral services are exempted in the quarantine, only 10 direct family members are allowed to be present but obliged to observe strict social distancing.
The new EO outlining the regulations of the Cebu-wide lockdown allows fuel stations, LPG outlets and hardware stores, as well as energy companies and those in the telecommunications industry to continue operating.
The operation of companies manufacturing soap, rubbing alcohol, hand sanitizers, detergents, diapers, wipes, toilet papers and disinfectants are also allowed to continue without restrictions.
However, laundry and water refilling stations, agri-vet stores and general merchandise stores can operate only until 5 pm.
The EO allowed restaurants and fast food chains, eateries (carinderias) to operate but only for take-out and drive thru, while ambulant vendors are not allowed to sell.
Bakeshops and sari-sari stores can sell only until 9 p.m.
Mayor Edgardo Labella also implemented an enhanced community quarantine in Cebu City that commenced last Saturday. (PNA)
