The cities of Mandaue, Lapu-Lapu want to remain under ECQ

The cities of Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu asked the national government on Tuesday to allow them to remain under Enhanced Community Quarantine (ECQ), while other areas switch to “General Community Quarantine” (GCQ).

Earlier in the day, presidential spokesman Harry Roque said it was recommended that both cities switch to GCQ starting May 16, as the national government tries to get the Philippine economy back on track after 2 months of strict blockade due to to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) pandemic.

Meanwhile, it was recommended that Cebu City be placed in the modified Enhanced Community Quarantine.

Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu officials, however, said in a letter sent to the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) that they feel that “it is not safe to proceed with the GCQ, even more so than most of the The community has not been tested for COVID-19 “in their areas.

The massive tests for the three Cebu cities began on May 6, but have not yet reached their COVID-19 test target for at least 10 percent of its population, authorities said.

Initial results from Mandaue and Lapu-Lapu also showed that they are still about to approach half of their total COVID-19 testing target.

“We maintain our position from day one that until and unless our constituents are tested, we should not ease the restrictions,” the letter said. It was signed by the mayor of the city of Cebu, Edgardo Labella, the mayor of the city of Mandaue, Jonas Cortés, and the mayor of the city of Lapulapu, Junard Chan.

The IATF has not yet responded to the letter.

As of Monday, Cebu City has the highest number of COVID-19 cases in Central Visayas with 1,660, followed by Mandaue with 110 and Lapulapu with 42.