CEBU CITY – Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, overseer of the city’s coronavirus disease (COVID-19) response, arrived here Monday, November 16, to check on the sudden spike in the number of COVID-19 cases here.
Cimatu said reports of a sudden increase in the number of COVID-19 cases was something that had “to be attended to immediately.”
Last November 14, the city recorded 59 new cases, the highest in the past two months. A total of 30 new cases were added last Sunday, increasing the active cases in the city to 292.
“For a locality that is enjoying already a semblance of leveling (of the virus), this (increase of COVID-19 cases) is really news,” said Cimatu, who was tasked by President Duterte to oversee the city's COVID-19 efforts at the time when Cebu City was considered as the country's epicenter of the pandemic.
Cimatu said that he was briefed by Mayor Edgardo Labella and Emergency Operations Center Chief Joel Garganera about the measures being taken to address the sudden spike in infections.
One of the measures taken by the city was the reimplementation of strict border controls. The measure, which started Monday, created heavy traffic as police checked if passengers aboard public utility vehicles were persons authorized outside residence (APOR).
Labella appealed for understanding if the measure caused inconvenience.
“It was the first day of the reimplementation so we expected that. But we will be able to adjust in the coming days,” said Labella.
Labella also announced the reimplementation the odd-even scheme to lessen the number of vehicles on the road.
Despite the sudden increase of cases, Police Brig. Gen. Abert Ignatius Ferro, chief of the Police Regional Office Central Visayas, said the COVID-19 situation in the city remained manageable.
“This is manageable. We just have to have that mindset not to be complacent. There were reports of some people holding parties and we have to be cautious about that because we don’t have vaccines yet,” Ferro said.
Garganera lamented that mass gatherings were one of the reasons why the city experienced an increase of COVID-19 cases.
“There were just too many gatherings. Parties, drinking sprees really contributed to rise of COVID-19 cases,” said Garganera.
The Cebu City Police Office has created the “Task Force Bulabog” that will check gatherings in the city.