Cebu’s new coronavirus case quashes hopes of containment

CEBU, Philippines – Cebu recorded a new coronavirus case on Tuesday, April 7, quashing early hopes that the province has contained the outbreak of novel coronavirus disease.

The new case is a resident of Cebu City. No other details were provided as of this posting. 

There were no new cases reported from April 5 to 6. The two days of respite prompted residents to hope that the disease was contained. Some even asked the provincial government to make preparations to lift lockdown measures put in place to stop the disease from spreading.

As of Tuesday, the province has a total of 36 coronavirus cases including 30 in Cebu City, 4 in Negros Oriental, and one in Bohol. 

Cebu Governor Gwendoly Garcia said on Monday, April 6, said residents should’t keep their guard down. She said it was too early to begin discussions on lifting lockdown measures.

There was no timeframe mentioned in the executive order that put Cebu province on enhanced community quarantine on March 30. “I did not want them to look at a particular date. It would be like a promise that I may not be able to keep and so I kept that open,” Garcia said. 

Garcia said the provincial government will also need to observe developments in Luzon before making any decision. Metro Manila is the epicenter of coronavirus outbreak in the country. 

“It also depends on how the Manila situation will develop. Because we are all connected and so we really really hope and pray that Luzon’s situation will soon improve and they will soon flatten the curve,” Garcia said.

“Unless that is achieved, we cannot hope to even estimate a date when our own ECQ will be lifted,” she added.

Department of the Interior and Local Government Undersecretary Jonathan Malaya said local governments may decide to lift enhanced community quarantine measures  but it has to be “based on science.”

“There can be partial lifting in some areas especially in areas na wala nang (without new) cases, mabasa ‘yung PUIs, at napakababa ‘yung PUMs (and where the number of PUIs and PUMs are low),” Malaya said. 

“We’re using technology also to determine whether we can lift the enhanced community quarantine or not. One of the things that we are using is data analytics,” said Malaya. – Rappler.com