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CEBU City Mayor Edgardo Labella is asking his constituents to follow all health and safety measures, especially now that the city has temporarily suspended the use of quarantine passes when Misa de Gallo begins on Wednesday, December 16. 2020.
At a press conference on Tuesday, December 15, Labella urged parishioners to immediately return home after sunrise Masses and avoid taking unnecessary walks.
“We suspended the use of quarantine passes so that all of you can go to mass. Let’s not abuse this. Go straight home after mass unless you need to get essentials. We hope to continue flattening the curve, ”Labella said in Cebuano.
“Let’s not be complacent,” he added.
For his part, the director of the Cebu City Police Office (CCPO), Colonel Josefino Ligan, said that the police will not hesitate to reprimand anyone who is caught who does not follow the minimum health protocols despite the fact that the Use of quarantine passes has been suspended from December 15 until Christmas Day.
On Tuesday, local police, members of the Kasaligan Task Force, staff from the Prevention, Restoration, Order, Beautification and Improvement (Probe) team, and volunteers gathered at Independence Square for a formal farewell before their deployment to 34 parishes of Cebu. City.
Simbang Gabi (evening masses in honor of the Blessed Virgin Mary) began on Tuesday night.
In the city of Talisay, police and city officials led by Mayor Gerald Anthony Gullas Jr. inspected the city’s churches and gymnasiums on Tuesday, the day before the start of the Rooster Mass.
The officials visited Sto. Niño Parish in Barangay Mohon; Archdiocesan Sanctuary of Sta. Teresa de Avila in Poblacion; Our Lady of Consolation-Recoletos Parish in Barangay San Roque; San Isidro Labrador Parish in Barangay San Isidro; San José Obrero Parish in Tabunok; and the Our Mother of Perpetual Help Chaplaincy in Jaclupan.
They also visited some chapels and gymnasiums where the nine-day novena masses will be held.
In addition to the police officers, additional personnel such as tanods, firefighters and doctors will be deployed in the parishes.
“All I ask of the parishioners is to follow our law enforcement officials. This includes following minimum health protocols, ”Gullas said in an FB post.
Testing capacity
At the Department of Health (DOH) 7, officials reminded both privately owned and government-run health care facilities to allocate 30 percent of their beds to both Covid-19 wards and nursing units. intensive care to prepare for a possible increase in Covid -19 cases during the holidays.
DOH 7 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jean Loreche said the region now has better testing capacity compared to the first quarter of the year.
Current testing capacity in the region can go up to 4,000-5,000 in 24 hours, he said.
“We have a very active and efficient Emergency Operations Center (EOC) for Cebu City. That alone will speak to the fact that if something happens between now and the post-vacation period, our EOC can immediately do contact tracing and isolate people in need of isolation, ”he said.
There are 690 active cases remaining in central Visayas as of Monday night.
Cebu City, once labeled as the epicenter of Covid-19 in the country, recorded just two new cases last Monday with a total of 166 active cases remaining.
Cebu City was ranked next to Negros Oriental, which currently has the highest number of active cases remaining in the region with 227.
Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu City registered 44 active cases, Mandaue City (25), Bohol (92), Cebu Province (130) and Siquijor (6). (PAC, JKV, WBS)
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