STARTING Friday, January 14, 2022, the curfew hours in Cebu City will be at 11 p.m. to 4 a.m. from the previous 12 midnight to 3 a.m., while curfew for minors will be from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. the following day.
However, authorized persons outside residence, call center employees, health workers and frontliners, workers of cargo vehicles delivering essential goods and services and public utility vehicles are exempted from the curfew.
These are among the provisions of Mayor Michael Rama’s Directive 01-14-2022-01 issued Thursday, January 13, to observe and enforce the Alert Level 3 in Cebu City.
This comes as Cebu City hit a positivity rate of 27.11 percent after 366 of 1,350 people swabbed on Jan. 13 tested positive for Covid-19.
This is the highest positivity rate the city has ever recorded during the pandemic, said Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the city’s Emergency Operations Center.
In his directive, Rama also ordered the Task Force “Puyo” headed by Cebu City Police Office chief Col. Ernesto Salvador Tejada Tagle to ensure that the provisions under the task force are followed, such as requiring parents or guardians to be always informed about the Covid-19 situation in the city, to designate a separate room as an isolation area for sick persons to avoid infecting other members of the family, and to make sure that any person in the household who is swabbed remains at home while waiting for the result.
The 70 percent maximum passenger capacity in public utility jeepneys should also be strictly observed. Further, public commuters are encouraged to be vaccinated soonest to avoid contamination.
Cebu City residents are encouraged to register for vaccination through www.pabakunata.com.
With the bulk of garbage and debris left by Typhoon Odette (Rai), the Enhanced Citywide Qualitative Health and Sanitation (ECQ-HS) drive will be extended to cover all Saturdays and Sundays of January.
The ECQ-HS, first implemented on December 30, 2021 and January 2, 2022, includes a stay-at-home order except for essential activities, to free the streets of traffic and allow the rapid clean-up of debris left by the typhoon.
Meanwhile, Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia issued an executive order requiring the Cebu Police Provincial Office led by Col. Engelbert Soriano to start monitoring the borders on Monday, January 17, 2022.
Soriano said they would start conducting checkpoints at 6 a.m. on Monday in the different municipalities in Cebu to ensure compliance with the passenger limit in public utility buses.
He said drivers who violate the rules will be issued the Temporary Operator’s Permit. (AYB, TPT)