By Gabriela Baron
Returning Valenzuela City residents from Cebu City and Cebu province, where infections continue to spike, will need to undergo coronavirus tests and quarantine, Mayor Rex Gatchalian said on Tuesday.
In an interview over ANC, Gatchalian said returning residents will need to undergo a polymerase chain reaction (PCR) test and undergo quarantine before they will be allowed to go home.
"In Valenzuela, we're not going to limit the number of Valenzuelanos from that area, coming back to the city, we just want them to make sure that when they do come in, we will put them in a quarantine facility, do the PCR test, care of the local government, get the result in 2-3 days, then they should be home by then," he noted.
"We're going to make sure they are safe and when they go home to their respective households, they're not potential carriers," Gatchalian added.
Gatchalian said that there are four returning residents currently in isolation and have been swabbed for the virus.
"We just want to make sure that when they go home, they are safe and their families will be safe. We take care of the food, the lodging... we will take care of all their medical needs if they do have medical needs, and we will take care of the testing. We assure them the results will come in 2, maximum of 3 days," he assured.
On June 15, Cebu City reverted to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) due to the increasing number of new cases and widespread community transmission in most of its barangays.