Año says Cebu City will issue new quarantine passes

June 25, 2020

Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Thursday clarified that suspending  250,000 enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) passes in Cebu City is to allow for issuance of new passes by the local government unit.

During Laging Handa virtual presser, Año said those who are included in the list of Authorized Persons Outside Residence (APOR) will still be allowed to go out.

“Even if we suspend the ECQ passes, APOR remains… Mayor (Edgar) Labella only suspended it because he will issue new (passes),” he said.

The new passes for residents of Cebu City is the same as those issued in areas in Luzon placed under ECQ in March.

“One quarantine pass for every family… because if there will be 250,000 ECQ passes then it will look like there’s no quarantine… it will be one member per family who will be allowed to go out to buy food and other basic necessities,” Año said.

The secretary also warned the residents of Cebu City they will be charged for violating the Bayanihan Act if they continue to violate  quarantine protocols.

According to Año, around 2,000 violators were apprehended in Cebu City since June 15.

They will also add more quarantine control points in the province aside from the 55  established.

Aside from health protocols and additional deployment of police, Año said they will also add health workers and isolation facilities in the area as the increasing number of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) is alarming.

"We need to add isolation facilities. DPWH (Department of Public Works and Highways) will build step-down facilities to declog the hospitals with mild symptom patients,” he said.

“We will also give accommodation to the health workers so that there is no need for them to go home and transmit the virus to their families,” he added.

He said patients who are positive and undergoing home quarantine should be immediately transferred to isolation facilities.

“They might violate the quarantine protocol and the transmission usually starts in the community,” Año said.

Año urged residents who show flu-like symptoms to have themselves checked in hospitals.

“We will advocate that they should not wait for their symptoms to worsen… There are incidents where the patient died after 48 hours because it's already a critical case… some felt embarrassed of being sick that’s why they don’t go to the hospital,” he said. Ella Dionisio/DMS