CEBU CITY, Philippines – At least 21 more  persons tested positive in Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz, in this city, the Department of Health (DOH)- Central Visayas said in a statement released late evening Wednesday, April 15. 



Sitio Zapatera has been on lockdown since April 7, where residents are not allowed to leave their homes at all. It is the police and barangay authorities who have been dropping off necessities like food to the residents. (READ: At least 9,000 residents in Cebu City barangay under total lockdown)

The sitio was placed under total lockdown after 3 residents tested positive for the coronavirus.

The Cebu City Health Department went back to the barangay to test more residents on Tuesday, April 14. The result showed 5 others tested positive for the virus.

This brings the total number of residents who tested positive from Sitio Zapatera to 29, the most out of any single barangay in Cebu City. 

The barangay has an estimated population of 18,000 people.

Some 1 million people live in Cebu City alone.



Aside from Zapatera, at least one tested positive in Sitio A Lopez in Barangay Labangon, prompting a lockdown there on Tuesday.

The sitio is densely populated, with about 9,000 total residents, many of whom rent boarding houses or bedspaces in the area and work in the nearby Cebu Business Park, also in Luz, or IT Park in nearby Barangay Lahug.

The other new cases detected were from Barangay Mambaling and Guadalupe in the southern end of Cebu City.

This brings the total number of confirmed cases in Cebu City and Cebu province to 64, including the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu, and 69 in the Central Visayas region. 

The significant increase in positive cases comes as mass testing began in the sub-national lab of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center. 

A total of 216 total tests were conducted on Wednesday.

However, it was not disclosed how many individuals were tested and how many were repeat tests.

Central Visayas has a total of 69 positive confirmed cases as of late Wednesday evening.


There were no new cases reported in other provinces in the region. So far, Siquijor, the least populated province in the Central Visayas, is the only one without a confirmed coronavirus case.

There are 5,453 coronavirus cases nationwide as of 5 pm, Wednesday, April 15. Another 349 people have died of complications from the virus, while 353 have recovered. – Rappler.com