Cebu City ”more likely” epicenter of COVID-19: Año

June 29, 2020

Due to the increasing rate of infection in Cebu City, Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Monday said the city is now "more likely" the epicenter of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in the country.

In a TV interview, Año said there are more cases being recorded in the city compared to Metro Manila with 17 local government units.

“If you compare it to the National Capital Region where we have 17 LGUs, in Metro Manila, we have 356 (compared to) 131 in Cebu City. You can just see the number,” he said.

When asked if the city could be considered as COVID-19 epicenter, Año said “more likely because of the rate of infection in Cebu City”.

“We’re referring to Cebu City. Cebu City is getting a lot of new cases and we’re worried on the number of deaths also,” Año said.

Año said IATF officials will be returning to Cebu City this week as the government still needs to do more in containing the COVID-19 virus.

"Somehow we’re able to contain ( the virus) in the whole country but of course in the National Capital Region (NCR) and Cebu we have to do more. Particularly Cebu, it’s the epicenter now compared to Metro Manila in area and population… We need to do a lot of effort in Cebu City," he said.

He added they will check for more isolation facilities sites as they found out the infection in the community is due to positive patients who are only undergoing home quarantine.

“It is very important that we extract the positive (cases) out of the community and put them in isolation facilities. We took note that most of the infections in the community are because many of the positive patients are undergoing just home quarantine,” Año said.

"Out of the almost 4,000 cases, about half are under home quarantine and you know we can’t be sure if those patients are observing proper protocols of home quarantine. So better to extract them out of the community to ensure safety of the families and neighborhood," he said.

Año said public's "complacency, eagerness to resume economic activities immediately” and the return of locally stranded individuals (LSIs) are some of the factors on the sudden rise of COVID-19 cases in the city.

“And of course, in terms of the attitude of the people, there is a tendency to keep or hide the fact that they are infected and they will only go to hospitals when it’s already too late,” he said.

He appealed to the residents of Cebu City to  observe health standard protocols.

"We are asking the public, the Cebu constituents to please do your part, observe health standards strictly and likewise for those who might have been exposed to positive COVID patients, please volunteer and go to the isolation facilities or have yourself tested," he said.  Ella Dionisio/DMS