Guv closes borders with Cebu City

CEBU. Governor Gwen Garcia shows pictures of people waiting in line outside the South Bus Terminal on Friday, March 27, 2020. (Amper Campana)
CEBU. Governor Gwen Garcia shows pictures of people waiting in line outside the South Bus Terminal on Friday, March 27, 2020. (Amper Campana)

CEBU Governor Gwendolyn Garcia announced Friday, March 27, 2020 that she will close the borders of Cebu City as more positive cases of the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) were reported.

Cebu City is bordered by Balamban and Toledo City in the west; Mandaue City and Compostela in the north, and Talisay City in the south.

The governor will issue an executive order Saturday on the border closure, which she said will take effect on Monday, March 30.

That, as officials of the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) sub-national laboratory conducting tests for Covid-19 have confirmed 12 positive cases in the Visayas.

The announcement was made by Department of Health (DOH) Regional Epidemiologist Juanito Zuasola on Friday during a press conference held at the VSMMC sub-national laboratory in Cebu City.

Of the 12, eight were tests conducted on patients whose results were sent to the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) in Muntinlupa City for confirmation, Zuasola said.

The four others were from tests conducted at the VSMMC testing center on Friday, March 27, which were no longer sent to the RITM for confirmation as VSMMC was now certified to conduct tests and release results.

The VSMMC, however, did not give a breakdown per location of the 12 positive cases.

Other laboratories nationwide that are now certified to conduct Covid-19 testing are Baguio General Hospital and Medical Center, San Lazaro Hospital, Southern Philippines Medical Center, and the University of the Philippines-National Institute of Health (UP NIH).

Asked to comment on the VSMMC announcement, DOH 7 Director Jaime Bernadas urged the public to wait for DOH’s own report.

“VSMMC’s report is different from ours because it’s possible that what they entered there as positive is a repeat examination, not cases-based,” Bernadas said in a mix of Cebuano and English in a phone interview with SunStar Cebu.

The DOH 7 has sent a total of 16 samples to the RITM for confirmation including the repeat examination of the first Covid-19 case in Cebu in Mandaue City.

As of 12 noon Friday, the DOH’s situational report on the Covid-19 in Central Visayas showed a total of 129 persons with severe acute respiratory infection (Sari).

Of the number, 127 are admitted in hospitals while two are under home isolation, the DOH said.

The DOH 7 also recorded a total of 1,201 persons with influenza-like illnesses (ILI) and 15,856 persons under monitoring (PUMs).

As this developed, the Cebu Provincial Government has announced it will restrict the entry of its citizens into Cebu City starting Monday, March 30, when the province-wide lockdown begins.

Once the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) is implemented, residents of Cebu Province, except those with essential work functions, cannot enter Cebu City.

Garcia told reporters on Friday that she decided to close off the Province’s borders due to the increasing number of “presumptive positive” cases of the Covid-19 admitted in Cebu City hospitals.

The Mandaue City government will also adapt the Province’s measures.

Essential workers

Only those with essential work functions such as medical personnel, emergency response units and members of the media, can cross those borders.

Even employees living in the Province but working in exempted establishments in Cebu City such as construction firms, business process outsourcing (BPO) firms, supermarkets and others can no longer enter Cebu City.

Garcia urged firms and business establishments that continue to operate despite the border closure to provide adequate temporary housing for their employees.

“Starting Monday, those who want to visit Cebu City to work will have to stay there for the time being. After that, they can no longer go out of the city,” Garcia said in Cebuano.

Cebu City

Meanwhile, the Cebu City Government will be issuing one ECQ pass per household.

Mayor Edgardo Labella said the passes will be issued for free and are “absolutely not for sale.”

Aside from the one per household pass, others who can secure ECQ passes are non-residents who are qualified to enter and exit the city, residents who are qualified and need to exit and enter the city, and all other persons as determined by the City.

Only City Hall can issue the passes but their distribution will be coursed through the PNP, barangay officials and other duly-authorized persons.

The City will be issuing four types of ECQ passes: the Green pass for Cebu City residents; Red pass for employees and officials of government offices; Blue pass for non-residents of Cebu City; and White pass for crisis management teams and other frontliners.

Cebu City residents are given a five-day transition period before the strict implementation of the “no pass, no exit” policy on April 1.

The green passes will be distributed house to house starting Saturday, March 28.

Those who will distribute the passes will have to maintain a record of the issuances with complete details of the recipient’s name, birthdate, address, contact numbers and other members of the household.

For the red, blue and white passes, the applicants must submit a letter request to the mayor’s office personally or through email at ccg.ecqpass@gmail.com.

A letter request is good for only one individual. Each request will be evaluated by the Office of the Mayor.

Those exempted from the Stay at Home Order are no longer required to secure ECQ Passes, and are only required to present their Company ID, Certificate of Employment, or any bona fide document to prove they are exempted.

Unauthorized reproduction or use of the ECQ passes will subject the violator to criminal charges.

“People just need to present clearance if they want to move around,” said Acting Cebu City Police Office Director Col. Hector Grijaldo.

Brig. Gen. Albert Ignatius Ferro, Police Regional Office 7 chief, for his part, urged barangay officials to deploy vehicles in case of emergencies such as citizens who need immediate help from clinics and hospitals. (WBS, ANV, JJL, AYB /CBQ / JKV)

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