People with comorbidities told to stay at home

CEBU CITY – Acting Mayor Michael Rama said the “Oplan Puyo” will continue despite the city’s shift to the more relaxed General Community Quarantine (GCQ) classification.

Rama said stakeholders recommended a gradual transition in easing restrictions despite the imposition of the less strict GCQ and the downtrend in Covid-19 infections based on the latest data of the Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas.

“In our regular meetings of the multi-sector Covid-19 task force, the convergence group recommended and proposed the gradual transition to avoid another spike (in Covid-19 infections). We want to achieve a sustained pace towards a new normal,” Rama said.

Rama said the Emergency Operations Center is supporting the proposal to gradually move to more relaxed quarantine protocols and reiterated the need to educate residents on the importance of staying at home to prevent further spread of coronavirus, especially the more transmissible Delta variant.

Rama said village officials and the local police force must work together in the continued quarantine control points and foot patrols. He said the presence of policemen and force multipliers or volunteers, and barangay tanods became a deterrent to residents leaving their homes for non-essential purposes.

“Any person who are under 15 and above 65 and those who suffer immunodeficiency, comorbidity, and other health risks are required to stay at home,” Rama said, stressing that they are only allowed during emergencies or in obtaining essential goods.

He said curfew hours from 10 p.m. to 4 a.m. of the following day should remain in order to sustain the gains in preventing Covid-19 transmission suspected to have occurred in night-time establishments such as bars and restaurants.

Rama said all other restrictions under GCQ as defined by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Infectious Diseases such as the operational capacities for establishments are still followed under his Executive Order 142 he signed last Tuesday.

Cebu City has over 3,000 active Covid-19 cases. (John Rey Saavedra)