Cimatu recommends ECQ extension in Cebu City

(UPDATED) After a week of assessing the coronavirus epidemic in Cebu City, Secretary Roy Cimatu said Tuesday, June 30, 2020, that he is recommending an extension of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and the continued implementation of granular lockdowns even after cases of infection slow down.

Cimatu, overseer of the government’s Covid-19 response in Cebu, said the granular (sitio or barangay-level) lockdowns would be implemented in areas with high incidence of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

“So ito ngayon ang aking (recommendation), continue natin ang ECQ because... umpisa pa lang ito eh. No’ng una na na-announce ‘yung ECQ ay hindi agad naipatupad, kulang iyong mga pulis, hindi masyadong na implement,” he said during Malacañang’s virtual press briefing Tuesday.

Presidential Spokesperson Harry Roque also said the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) agreed during their meeting Monday to undertake the following in Cebu City:

• Harmonize local government units, healthcare workers, business sector and religious sector;
• Resolve the acute need of doctors, nurses and nursing staff;
• Mobilization of the national business sector; and
• Prioritization of Cebu City for the distribution of the second tranche of the cash assistance under the social amelioration program (SAP).