ECQ ‘effective’ in Cebu City but shift to GCQ ‘too early to say’ — DOH official

MANILA, Philippines — While there is a decreasing trend in Cebu City’s COVID-19 positive cases and mortality rate, Health Undersecretary Leopoldo Vega said it is still too early to say if the city’s lockdown measure can be downgraded to general community quarantine (GCQ).

“Di pa natin masasabi ‘yan (We can’t tell), it’s too early to say,” Vega said in an online Palace briefing when asked if it is possible to ease Cebu City’s lockdown restrictions soon.

“Pero ‘pag mag-progress ‘yan, magdecrease lahat ang metrics, mag-improve ang Cebu City, ‘yan ay paguusapan sa IATF [Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases] whether to downgrade ang Cebu City to GCQ,” he added.

(But if it progresses, the metrics decrease, and Cebu City continues to improve, then the IATF will discuss if it can downgrade Cebu City to GCQ.)

Cebu City is the lone area in the country under the strictest lockdown measure or enhanced community quarantine (ECQ)

Still, Vega noted how the ECQ in place has improved Cebu City’s COVID-19 situation.

“Yes, bumaba na iyong rates ng kanilang positive dito sa Cebu dahil sa ECQ, at saka mayroon na ring decreasing trend sa kanilang mortality rates. So effective ang ECQ dito sa Cebu right now,” Vega said.

(Yes, the positive cases declined here in Cebu because of the ECQ. There’s also a decreasing trend in their mortality rates. So the ECQ in Cebu is effective.)

There are so far over 7,000 COVID-19 cases in Cebu City. The number is out of the 50,359 confirmed cases nationwide.

JE