Cebu-based journalist Dale Israel contributed to this report.
Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, January 28) — The OCTA research team sounded the alarm over the upward trend of COVID-19 cases in Cebu province the past week which rose by about 67%.
The report dated Jan. 28 called Cebu a “serious concern” after the province averaged 147 new daily infections in the past seven days, when it only had 11 cases per day from the week before. The province’s reproduction number of 1.57 even surpassed the nationwide rate of 0.96 in that period.
Its positivity rate was also at 6%, which if uncontrolled, could prompt the need to revert to tighter quarantine restrictions.
“While the attack rate of Cebu was still below the high risk cutoff, the significant increase in new cases, if unmitigated, could pose challenges to the healthcare system of the province,” the report said.
The last time Cebu was under enhanced community quarantine, the province tallied 400 infections per day, OCTA reminded. It said this number could be reached again in just two weeks.
Researchers also fear that the new COVID-19 variant that was first detected in the United Kingdom and has been found in northern provinces, may have reached Cebu as well. The report also noted that the growth in cases in provinces where the UK variant has been identified has slowed down.
However, Cebu officials are reluctant in shifting to stricter quarantine measures despite the post-holiday surge.
“I don’t see any compelling reason why we should go back to [general community quarantine],” Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella told reporters. “After all, our [modified general community quarantine] is controlled and we still have our quarantine passes. We still prevent crowding. We are not totally complacent and we are very vigilant.”
Cebu City has been under MGCQ since September after it allegedly “flattened the curve.” There were only 81 active (or sick) COVID-19 cases in Cebu City on Dec. 27. On Jan. 26, nearly a month later, the Department of Health in Central Visayas recorded a total of 986 active cases.
Labella said he is still studying if it is necessary to augment police personnel in enforcing health protocols in the city. He added that he needs to consult with the Cebu Chamber of Commerce and Industry if they need to expand the curfew hours to prevent the spread of the virus.
The mayor reiterated that there will be no city-wide lockdowns but only lockdowns in small areas or pocket areas within a barangay. He stressed that he does not want an entire barangay to be locked down.
