Mabatid wants lockdown of entire city ASAP

CEBU, Philippines —  Due to the increasing number of COVID-19 cases in Cebu City, Councilor Prisca Niña Mabatid has proposed a resolution requesting Mayor Edgardo Labella to declare a state of total lockdown in all sitios of the 80 barangays of the city the “soonest time possible.”

Mabatid also requested Labella to immediately provide guidelines in order to streamline the implementation of such declaration.

“It is but timely to declare the entire Cebu City into a state of total lockdown in order to effectively curb the further spread or contagion of the virus,” said Mabatid.

“It becomes alarming that in spite of the implementation of the Enhanced Community Quarantine the number of those who are infected with this deadly virus is increasing in the City of Cebu, worst, there are those who are found infected with this dreaded disease are asymptomatic,” she added.

To prevent the spread of COVID-19, Sitio Zapatera of Barangay Luz and Sitio A. Lopez of Barangay Labangon were specifically selected to be declared under a state of total lockdown.

Another 24 new COVID-19 cases were confirmed in Sitio Zapatera yesterday, bringing the total number of positive cases in the city to 77.

According to Mabatid, it cannot be denied that while the entire city is under a state of enhanced community quarantine (ECQ), the mandatory stay at home order is being ignored by some residents.

She added others are blatantly transgressing the mandatory preventive measures of wearing face masks and disregarded the social distancing measure.

Cebu City is on its third week of ECQ, which started midday of March 28. Labella ordered the ECQ to be enforced until April 28 but he has since expressed being open to the idea of extending the same when warranted.  JMD (FREEMAN)