Around 12,000 stranded in Cebu City amid ECQ — Cimatu

Due to the enhanced community quarantine, around 12,000 locally stranded individuals (LSIs) in Cebu City are being withheld from leaving the area, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said.

Cimatu, who is tasked to lead the COVID-19 response in the city, said the LSIs will only be allowed to leave Cebu City when the community quarantine restriction eases.

“Merong 12,000 rito na locally stranded individuals,” Cimatu said in an interview on GMA News’ Unang Balita on Wednesday.

“They are staying in their respective na pinagtitirahan nila, mga boarding houses at tsaka mga relatives. Pero they cannot leave dito muna sila,” he added.

From general community quarantine, Cebu City returned to ECQ on June 16 due to the increase in new cases as well as in its critical care utilization against critical care capacity.

On Wednesday, President Rodrigo Duterte announced that Cebu City will remain under ECQ, which means travel will still restricted.

“Dahil sa ECQ, they undergo naman mga proseso bago we will allow them after na ng pag-lift ng ECQ,” Cimatu said.

While he acknowledged the improvement in compliance of the residents to the quarantine measures, Cimatu said he personally recommended the extension of ECQ in Cebu to the Inter-Agency Task Force.

Cebu City is one of the COVID-19 hot spots in the country. On Tuesday, it logged 353 new COVID-19 cases, the highest number of new cases it reported in a single day, raising the total to 5,494.

The Cebu City Health Department (CHD) also said total recoveries rose to 2,723 after 10 more patients recovered from the respiratory illness, while the death toll remained at 169 with no new fatalities.

To ensure the residents' compliance with ECQ protocols, the Philippine National Police (PNP) has deployed over a hundred of its elite Special Action Force (SAF) commandos to the city. — Joviland Rita/RSJ/KBK, GMA News