MANILA, Philippines — Forty-nine out of 80 barangays in Cebu City were found to have clustering of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases, according to the Department of Health (DOH) on Friday.
“Out of these 80 barangays na ito, 49 barangays had clustering,” DOH spokesperson and Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire said in an online media forum, when asked about the initial analysis of the agency’s epidemiology team flown to the city to investigate the surge of COVID-19 cases in the area.
“So pag sinabi nating clustering, these are two or more cases in a specific area (When we say clustering, these are two or more cases in a specific area),” she later explained.
Vergeire also shared that out of the 80 barangays in the city, 61 were found to have new cases of COVID-19 in the past 14 days.
Previously, Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu said that 12 barangays in Cebu City will be placed under “total lockdown” as these were identified as COVID-19 hotspots in the city.
Cimatu was ordered by President Rodrigo Duterte to fly to the city to oversee the government’s COVID-19 response.
Currently, Cebu City is under enhanced community quarantine due to a spike of COVID-19 cases.