Community transmission feared in Cebu City neighborhood as 23 new COVID-19 cases found

CEBU CITY—At least 23 persons tested positive for COVID-19 in Cebu on Wednesday (April 15), bringing the total number of confirmed cases to 63.

Most of the cases were in Sitio Zapatera at a village called Luz, a densely populated urban poor area currently on a lockdown in the city.

Of the new cases, 21 were in Sitio Zapatera, one from the village of Mambaling and one in the village of Guadalupe, all in the city.

Mayor Edgar Labella, in a digital press conference, said the city government would continue to do mass testing to find COVID-19 cases.

The city government earlier purchased at least 18,000 kits for mass testing.

Cebu City, which has been under enhanced community quarantine since March 28, now has a total of 54 COVID-19 cases.

Last Sunday (April 12) Sitio Zapatera was placed under “complete lockdown” due to the surge of COVID-19 cases in the area.

Dr. Junjie Zuasola, of the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit in Central Visayas, said health authorities expected the number of COVID-19 cases to rise because of massive testing.

He said health officials had already prepared for the surge and improved lab capacity.

The Cebu City government has also designated areas to be used as quarantine facilities.

Dr. Daisy Villa, chief of the Cebu City Health Office, said she recommended to Labella to keep COVID-19 patients inside Sitio Zapatera in Barangay Luz.

“The best way to address the spread of the virus in Sitio Zapatera is by ordering a total lockdown in the sitio,” Villa told Inquirer.

“I believe that the virus has already spread out and that there is already community transmission there,” she said.

On Tuesday (April 14) seven COVID-19 patients in Sitio Zapatera were brought to the Cebu City Medical Center for isolation.

Edited by TSB