APPEALS TO IATF

Cebu City, Mandaue City, Lapu-Lapu City want to remain under ECQ

The mayors of Cebu City, Mandaue City, and Lapu-Lapu City in Cebu have asked the Inter-Agency Task Force for Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) to reconsider its decision and continue placing them under enhanced community quarantine.

“We expect that the national IATF-EID will acquiesce to our appeal since we have nothing but the best interest of our people in mind,” Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella, Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes, Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan said in a joint statement released Tuesday night.

The national government has decided to put Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu under general community quarantine and Cebu City under modified enhanced community quarantine

The mayors said they welcome the decision but they could not simply ignore the realities that to their assessment, it is still not safe to proceed with the GCQ.

They said a greater part of the community has not been tested for coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19).

They said last May 6, the highly urbanized cities of Cebu commenced the strategic and calibrated testing of at least 10% of their projected population.

“The aim is to simply get a clearer picture of the actual COVID19 prevalence in our respective jurisdictions. By then, it would be easier on our part to take measures and instill protocols to ensure that the possibility of a second wave of infections would be minimal, if not totally averted,” they said.

The mayors added to shift to GCQ would be easier on the part of the government, however, their moral obligation entails that they have to make the difficult decisions to ascertain that majority of their constituents remain healthy and COVID free.

“We understand the clamor of the people to ease the restrictions, as this would mean a semblance of normalcy. But it would not be logical considering that based from initial estimation, approximately 90% of the cases in our region are asymptomatic,” they said.

They said they also understand the importance to start up the economy but this should not be at the expense of the health and safety of the people.

“We simply cannot afford to have business establishments open with sick or no people running them. We cannot look our constituents in the eye and give the guarantee that it would be safe for them to go out,” they said.

“The most effective way to flatten the curve is to TEST, TRACE and TREAT. We are still in the early stages of testing and tracing, and we maintain our stand from day one that until and unless our constituents are tested, we should not ease the restrictions,” they said.

They asked their constituents to support their decision and to get tested, as this is their way of assessing the whole situation.

“We ask that the government be given the chance to take care of its people. The end in sight is in the horizon. We just wanted to ensure that it would be safe for our people once we are ready to migrate to General Community Quarantine,” the mayors said.

In an interview with Dobol B sa News TV Wednesday, Labella said it would be better if the city would remain under ECQ as they continue to conduct mass testing for COVID-19.

“Nakikiusap ako na huwag munang modified, strict muna natin ang ECQ, mas maganda. Anyway we can survive, we have resources in the city that we can provide to the people. Ang nangyari kasi dito, the most important component of fighting this virus is massive swab testing,” he said.

He said Cebu City has already conducted 10,376 swab tests.

“Sabi nila lumampas kami sa Quezon City, tutuo kasi ‘yung na-test ng Quezon City ay 4,013 lang and there are 3 million residents. We have 1.4 million, we have tested 10,376 kasi para sa akin the most important component of fighting this virus is through testing,” he said.

Labella said of those tested, 1,660 turned out positive for COVID-19 and 96% of them were asymptomatic, as of May 12.

“‘Yan ang delikado kasi ang asymptomatic walang ubo, walang sipon and they are just going around. Ang ginawa natin, we have placed them in barangay isolation centers, we have 2,250 beds in our isolation centers. ‘Yung iba na mag-qualify sa home quarantine dun lang muna sila under the protocol of DOH,” he said.

He added despite the high number of COVID-19 cases, Cebu City has the lowest mortality rate.

“Makikita sa graph that Cebu City has the lowest mortality rate, 0.54 percent lang,” he said.—AOL, GMA News