Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu back to MECQ

CEBU, Philippines —  From modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), the cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu will be placed two notches higher under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) from August 1-15, 2021.

Cebu City and Cebu province will remain under MGCQ for the same period.

Under MECQ, the following establishments are not allowed to operate: entertainment venues like bars, concert halls, theatres, etc., recreational venues, amusement parks, traditional cockfighting, horse racing, outdoor contact sports, indoor sports courts and venues, indoor tourist attractions, venues for meetings, conferences and exhibitions, personal care services, outdoor tourist attractions, specialized markets of DOTs, and indoor dining.

IATF Visayas chief implementer Melquiades Feliciano said the presence of Delta variant cases in these cities was not among the factors considered by the body in coming up with the recommendation.

Instead, he said, the basis was their critical care utilization rates; that is, the ratio of hospital beds occupied to the total allocated for COVID-19 patients.

The mayors of the two cities were quick to appeal the Inter-Agency Task Force’s decision.

Mandaue’s appeal

Mandaue City Mayor Jonas Cortes told the IATF Screening and Validation Committee that the city can still manage the “unexplained surge” in COVID-19 cases.

He said they have implemented immediate mitigation plans to counter the hike, just as they have done before which, according to him, worked out just fine.

Cortes said that the city has the lowest number of active cases among LGUs monitored in Central Visayas, excluding Siquijor. From July 20-26, the city logged the lowest case count among the three highly urbanized cities of Cebu.

Because Mandaue lies within the immediate borders of Cebu City and Lapu-Lapu City and the Province of Cebu, Cortes said it is the heart of the island where all commerce and workers pass/traverse through. Thus, he argued that a different or a higher quarantine level, equivalent to a lockdown, would directly affect the entire region and would not necessarily control essential movement/travel.

“While we respect the recommendation of the NIATF-MEID, we also need guidance as to how the NIATF-MEID suddenly came up with the recommendation of putting the city under a high quarantine classification when our cases are still within manageable levels and even lower compared to our neighboring LGUs,” Cortes said.

He also emphasized that while there may be reports of increasing utilization of COVID-19 beds in hospitals in his city, these patients are not necessarily coming from the city itself.

The two biggest COVID-19 hospitals in Mandaue, he said, also cater to patients coming from Cebu province and even outside.

Cortes said that the utilization rate at Cebu’s private hospitals was at 62.4 percent as of July 26, 2021, which is considered as moderate risk level. Out of the 530 COVID-19 patients admitted in these private hospitals, only 38 were in Mandaue.

Lapu-Lapu’s appeal

Lapu-Lapu City Mayor Junard Chan, for his part, invoked the “One Cebu policy” in saying that the IATF should reconsider its decision.

“I am appealing to the IATF that there should be a uniform community quarantine classification in Cebu considering that we are operating under the One Cebu policy,” Chan said.

Chan likewise assured the IATF that the city government is doing its best to address the sudden surge in COVID-19 positive cases through various measures.

These measures include increase in the city’s isolation facility capacity, creation of barangay enforcement units, creation of more discipline zone, aggressive targeted surveillance testing, aggressive COVID-19 vaccination program, temporary suspension of non-essential mass gathering and stricter implementation of public health protocols, deployment of city-funded nurses to private hospitals in the city, among others.  — Mitchelle L. Palaubsanon, JMD (FREEMAN)