CEBU CITY –– The Queen City of the South may have reduced its number of active COVID-19 cases.
But the task is not done yet.
The next challenge is to bring down the number of cases to zero.
Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, Visayas overseer of the government’s coronavirus response, said Cebu City has successfully managed the spread of the virus and has become the blueprint in addressing outbreaks in other parts of the country.
“From being an epicenter of COVID-19, Cebu City is now the epicenter of recovery. Our objective is to bring down the active case to zero and this is, I can say, an impossible one to do but can be done,” said Cimatu, who visited the city on Thursday.
In October 2020, the city recorded no additional death due to COVID-19 and reduced the active cases to 200.
The critical utilization rate for both public and private hospitals also decreased from about 70 percent to around 30 to 20 percent only, easing the burden from the health sector.
Cimatu said as long as there are more recoveries than new cases, there would be a chance that Cebu City would eventually have zero coronavirus cases.
To defeat the virus, he said more testing and contract tracing should be done and that no one should be complacent.
Cimatu challenged barangay officials to strictly enforce the minimum health standards like wearing face masks and face shields, observing physical distancing, and staying indoors when there is nothing important to do outside.
“This pandemic only comes once in a lifetime, so if you are elected as the barangay captain, then this is your chance to show your leadership because this will not come again in your lifetime,” Cimatu said.
Last June 16, Cebu City was placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the strictest form of lockdown, due to a surge in the number of COVID-19 cases as well as its problem of providing critical healthcare assistance to patients.
This prompted Camp Crame to send 160 troops of the Special Action Force and additional policemen from other regions to the city to strictly enforce the health measures.
Cimatu was also appointed by President Duterte to oversee the government response to contain the spread of COVID-19 in Cebu province and city.
It took about two months before the city was downgraded to modified general community quarantine, the most relaxed form of community quarantine.
After his mission in Cebu, Cimatu was sent to Bacolod and Negros Occidental to help authorities bring down their number of infections.
Starting Friday, Oct. 23, the arrival of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) in the cities of Victorias and San Carlos was suspended to enable authorities to decongest and disinfect quarantine facilities.
The Western Visayas Regional Inter-Agency Task Force ordered the suspension of the arrival of LSIs to Victorias City until Oct. 30 and San Carlos City until Nov. 6.
As of Wednesday, Victorias City has a total of 189 COVID-19 cases where 63 were active with four fatalities. San Carlos City, on the other hand, has 165 confirmed patients, including 94 active cases and five deaths.
Stranded sacadas or migrant sugar workers from other parts of the country are also prohibited from returning to Negros Occidental without prior coordination with the provincial government.
Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, chief of the Provincial Disaster Management Program Division, said the Philippine Coast Guard was instructed not to allow migratory workers to board vessels for Negros Occidental without the needed requirements.
“There are 1,808 migratory workers from Antique who recently arrived in Negros Occidental for the harvest season. Eight of them were found to be COVID -19 positive,” he said.
Majority of the sacadas work as cane cutters in Negros Occidental which is the top producer of sugarcane in the country.