Capitol’s COVID-19 response impresses Sec. Cimatu

CEBU, Philippines — Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) chief implementer for the Visayas Secretary Roy Cimatu was impressed by the COVID-19 response of Cebu province.

Cimatu admitted he was worried at first because the number was rising, but assuaged by the comprehensive presentation made by Governor Gwendolyn Garcia during a meeting last Tuesday.

Garcia presented to Cimatu the overall picture of the infections in the province vis-à-vis the active cases and its ratio to the actual population of 3.2 million. The governor also presented the mitigating measures currently undertaken by the provincial government and the various local government units under it.

Garcia assured Cimatu that the province’s health care facilities are far from being overwhelmed. In fact, the occupancy rate of the provincial hospitals is only 24 percent.

Based on the governor’s presentation, the cumulative cases in the province, excluding Talisay City, Minglanilla, and Consolacion which are still under general community quarantine, is 1,971 with only 719 active cases. There are also 1,137 recoveries and 115 deaths as of August 6.

“Honestly, I was worried about the Province of Cebu but after this presentation, Governor, nawala na yung worry ko,” Cimatu told Garcia during the meeting with the mayors.

Cimatu said he felt at ease after Garcia’s presentation, especially on the assurance that there are enough health care facilities in the province.

“I hope this presentation has given you a picture of how we have been working in the Province of Cebu. We would wish to invite you to visit our beautiful towns and cities; someday you might want to go to Camotes and Bantayan and see for yourself how our mayors have been working very, very hard,” Garcia told Cimatu.

Cimatu urged the LGUs to continue its mitigating measures to stop the spread of the virus.

“This is the reason why I asked the President for this meeting kasi hindi ko gusto na magaya ang Cebu Province sa Metro Manila. Hindi ko gusto na mag-suffer ang ating tourism,” Cimatu said. — FPL (FREEMAN)