Cebu Province Declares State of Calamity Amid COVID-19

The Provincial Board has passed a resolution placing Cebu province under a state of calamity and extreme public health emergency effective immediately amid rise of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases.

Kerrie Keane Shimura, chair of committee on public health, authored the resolution authorizing Governor Gwendolyn Garcia to “initiate, take, and carry out any and all appropriate, necessary and other emergency measures in order to promote and protect the health, safety and general welfare of the Cebuanos”.

Shimura’s resolution also authorized the provincial treasurer to utilize the calamity funds to support the measures and strategies of the Cebu Capitol in its fight against the threat of Covid-19.

Shimura was quoted in Provincial Capitol’s official news site, Sugbo News, as saying that Covid-19 continues to threaten the lives, safety, and general welfare of the Cebuanos despite the measures established to mitigate the effect of the viral disease to the residents.

The resolution cited the rising number of presumptive cases of Covid-19 in Central Visayas, with Cebu City recording the highest count.

Dr. Jaime Bernadas, regional director of Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas, on Thursday confirmed that his office monitored 16 presumptive positive cases of Covid-19 in Central Visayas.

Of 16 cases, Bernadas said Cebu province has 15 presumptive cases with Cebu City recording 12 and the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu and the town of Cordova has one case each.

Negros Oriental has also one recorded presumptive case of Covid-19, he added.

Bernadas said his office is waiting for the final test results from the Regional Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) to confirm the earlier tests performed locally.

As of press time, only the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) is considered as a DOH-authorized government hospital to perform tests.

However, its results here need to be confirmed with the RITM, but Bernadas said the local test result is used as a basis in laying down proactive containment measures.

“For confirmation pa na siya (That’s still for confirmation). But we are treating them presumptive positive kay ato naman gihimo ang (because we are conducting) containment activities,” Bernadas said.

The proactive containment measures, he said, empowers hospitals, physicians, local government officials, and families to conduct contact tracing to those who got exposed to the “presumptive positive case.”

Local government units (LGUs), he said, are also informed on the need to install containment facilities.

The declaration placing the entire Cebu under a state of calamity and extreme public health emergency came after Garcia issued Executive Order No. 5-N placing the province under state of enhanced community quarantine that will officially start on Monday (March 30) at 12:01 a.m.

In a press conference late Thursday, Garcia said she gave the mayors the task to establish schemes in issuing quarantine passes to the residents who would go out to buy essential goods such food and medicine.

“That (quarantine passes) are not for sale. My fellow Cebuanos, please complain to me if your LGU is selling quarantine passes,” she warned, stressing the mayors should establish parameters to avoid abuses in issuing the passes.

Meanwhile, in order to ensure that Cebuanos can get rides home to their respective towns, Garcia issued an order exempting buses from the curfew and no air conditioning policy.

Another order was issued stating that no persons are allowed to enter the province through any seaport or the Mactan-Cebu International Airport during the enhanced community quarantine. (PNA)