CEBU, Philippines — Whether Cebu Province will transition to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) will be determined next week but Governor Gwendolyn Garcia said Friday that the regional Inter Agency Task Force (IATF) has endorsed this appeal favorably to its national counterpart.
"Gipatawag nato ni Atty. Frank Dinsay unsa na’y status (We have asked Atty. Frank Dinsay to check on the status). The regional IATF met that morning and the feedback is that they are favorably endorsing the appeal to the (national) IATF," Garcia said during her virtual presser.
The national IATF is set to convene on Monday, June 15.
The provincial government sent the appeal to the regional IATF two days after the national government announced that Cebu Province would remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) from June 1 to 15.
The province believes it is ready to transition to MGCQ.
Under MGCQ, some leisure activities that are prohibited under GCQ would already be allowed. In previous interviews, Garcia expressed her desire to put the province’s economy back on its feet through the resumption of tourism activities. She said the province looks at tourism as an economic activity and not merely a leisure activity.
Garcia also met with tourism stakeholders in the province to lay down protocols custom-fit for the activities being offered in different local government units.
Quoting Secretary Carlito Galvez, Jr., chief implementer of the national action plan for COVID-19, Sugbo News says President Rodrigo Duterte himself will announce the new quarantine classifications.
Galvez was in Cebu for a meeting with Cebuano leaders and different government agencies last June 11.
Galvez also reportedly commented that the odds are bright for Cebu Province’s appeal but said he does not wish to preempt the decision of the IATF.
Case reporting
Meanwhile, Garcia said the province has decided on a new scheme in reporting its COVID-19 cases.
Instead of presenting the cumulative total directly, the province will be report on the active cases, recoveries, and deaths.
As far as deaths are concerned, incidental deaths or those caused by underlying health conditions will be segregated from deaths caused purely by the coronavirus disease.
This new type of reporting, Garcia said, is meant to allay "unnecessary" fears that could be caused by looking at the lumped number of cases since March 23 without considering recoveries.
As of June 11, of the 340 cases from March 23 in the province, only 220 are active. This is presuming that asymptomatic patients or patients exhibiting no symptoms count as active cases.
Of this number, 58 (17 percent) have been hospitalized, 19 (5.6 percent) symptomatic cases have been isolated at home, and 143 (42.1 percent) showed no symptoms.
Eighty-seven (25.6 percent) have recovered.
Of the 33 deaths, 27 (7.9 percent) are incidental or have been caused by underlying health conditions while three (.9 percent) are caused purely by COVID-19. Three deaths are still awaiting diagnosis. JMO (FREEMAN)