Labella: Liquor ban stays

CEBU, Philippines —  Cebu City Mayor Edgardo Labella is asking more time to assess the situation before coming up with a decision whether or not to lift the liquor ban amid the decreasing number in active cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the city.

Labella said he needs one to two weeks to make the assessment and come up with a decision. The mayor appealed for understanding from the restobar and business owners.

“Tagai sa ta’g laing one to two weeks to assess the situation. Kung magsige gyud ni’g ubos, then we will seriously consider (to lift the liquor ban),” said Labella.

He said the liquor ban had been very effective in bringing down the number of cases in the city.

“As far as I know, ang liquor ban dako gyud og natabang. Naa man gud tay kinaiya mga Sugbuanon, kining tagay-tagay na usa ra ka baso ang gamiton sa nag-inom, nagpundok,” said Labella.

The latest data from the Emergency Operation Center (EOC) shows that the city is now left with only 949 active cases distributed across 69 out of 80 barangays in the city.  Barangay Guadalupe remains to have the highest number of active cases but is now down to only 58 from what used to be three digits.

EOC chief implementer and City Councilor Joel Garganera is hopeful that the number will continue to decrease in the days to come. Garganera said they have also noticed that the positivity rate for Cebu City has gone down closer to the five percent threshold set by the World Health Organization. As of April 6, the city’s positivity rate was at 5.89 percent.

Cebu City’s critical care occupancy rate is also down to 28.7% or only 278 beds for COVID-19 are occupied, 689 beds are vacant.

“I would emphasize again that this is not the time for complacency. Complacency is the enemy. The more that we become vigilant, the more that we do not lower our guard, the more nga atong protektahan ang atong fort kay ang inoculation, ang vaccination, taas pa kaayo na nga proseso. If it can happen in Manila, it can also happen sa atoa. We should be mindful anang dapita,” Garganera reminded the public. — FPL (FREEMAN)