This Week in Cebu (July 12 to 18, 2020)

Cebu City Health Department (CCHD) recorded more than 1,000 new confirmed COVID-19 cases in just one week, leading up to a total of 6,141 cases during the first week of July. The city remains under ECQ until July 15 and has enforced stricter lockdown measures for high-risk areas. Experts and the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF) have projected that the cases in the city might double by July 31 due to outbreaks in barangays [1].

Mayor Edgar Labella of Cebu City announced that the government is considering giving a monthly incentive of PhP10,000 to 1,800 health workers in private hospitals. The incentive will be given to medical workers in a period of three months as a token of gratitude for their labor. The mayor hopes to get the budget approval of PhP54 million from the city’s council. The private hospitals that will receive the monetary incentive are Chong Hua Hospital, Cebu Doctors’ University Hospital, Perpetual Succour Hospital, Cebu Velez General Hospital, Cebu Community Hospital, and Adventis Miller Hospital [2].

The Provincial Capitol of Cebu is focusing on reopening tourism spots in the countryside now that it is under MGCQ. The tourism activities expected to resume are canyoneering, whale shark watching, and thresher shark watching. Cebu Provincial Governor Gwen Garcia and the members of the Interagency Task Force on the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) views the reopening of tourism as an economic driver and a way to recover for those who have been depending on tourism for income [3].

The Cebu City Health Department announced that Facebook updates on COVID-19 cases in Cebu City will come to a halt. This decision is based on the recommendation by the IATF. The CCHD stated that this move aims to avoid confusion among the public as the department still coordinates data with other health departments. Instead, the public can check the information from the Department of Health Central Visayas’ (DOH-7) Facebook page for COVID-19 cases in the city [4].

The two busy borders between New South Wales (NSW) and Victoria were closed to contain the outbreak in the city of Melbourne. Thirty-three new cases were recorded in Victoria—the highest daily rise in the state in two months. As a result, the military is currently manning the border’s 55 roads and will catch anyone crossing illegally [5].

Visit Yoorekka for more updates on Cebu.