Vaccine czar Carlito Galvez Jr. has emphasized that Cebu should be protected from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) and its more transmissible variants as it is considered a "major gateway" to Luzon and Visayas.

Galvez, chief implementer of the National Task Force (NTF) Against COVID-19, attended a special session of the Cebu Provincial Board with the Inter-Agency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) and Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia on Tuesday, June 29, to discuss the province's differing rules on border travel with the national policy.

"Cebu is not just the gateway in Visayas but a gateway even in Luzon. We have to remember that Cebu is a major entry point and we need to protect our gateway," Galvez said.

Cebu's policy on border travel includes a swab test upon arrival at Mactan Cebu International Airport and a shorter quarantine period for all returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs).

If an arriving ROF or OFW tests negative in the swab test, s/he will be allowed to proceed to his/her area of destination without the need to undergo a quarantine.

Meanwhile, the national policy requires all arriving ROFs and OFWs to undergo a 14-day quarantine period upon arrival.

They shall be committed to a government-run quarantine facility for the first 10 days and undergo an RT-PCR test -- the gold standard in COVID-19 testing -- on the seventh day. If they test negative, they will be allowed to finish the last four days of their quarantine at home.

Prior to the special session, Garcia has agreed to set aside their local rules and implement the national government's policy after President Duterte ordered the NTF and IATF to compel Cebu local leaders to obey the national policy.

But during the session, Garcia reportedly appealed to the NTF and IATF to retain their own policy for returning overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who are Cebuanos.

Galvez has yet to issue a statement on Garcia's plea.

However, IATF chairman and Health Sec. Francisco Duque told the Cebu government to just obey Duterte's orders as it is enforced to ensure that the more transmissible variants of COVID-19 will not spread, particularly the Delta variant which is found to be 60 percent more infectious.

"Let us support what the President has already decided -- to really follow our 10 plus four quarantine protocol and policy," Duque said.

IATF co-chairman and Cabinet Sec. Karlo Nograles added that local government units must work with the national government in closely monitoring the spread of Delta variant by implementing cohesive policies on border travel.

"We must have a second look at the way the Delta variant acts, the way the variant moves. It increases the transmissibility and hospitalization," Nograles said, noting that the Delta variant has since spread to 85 other countries after first being detected in India.

"This is perhaps the most important supervening event that we have to closely look at," Nograles added.

From January to June 2021, Cebu recorded 71,316 cases, 61,187 recovered patients, and 2,197 deaths. The province has been placed under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) since September 2020.