MANILA – Cebu City, the new epicenter of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infection in the country, will remain under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until the middle of July.
President Rodrigo Duterte made the announcement in an address to the public past midnight Wednesday as he once again lambasted the Cebuanos for not complying with the national government’s measures to prevent the spread of COVID-19.
“‘Yung mga Bisaya doon ang titigas talaga ng ulo, hindi mo mapasunod,” Duterte said. “You did not follow rules. Cebu is now the hotspot for COVID. Bakit? Marami sa inyo hindi sumunod.”
Talisay City, which was formally under modified enhanced community quarantine, has been placed under general community quarantine (GCQ), along with the towns of Minglanilla and Consolacion. The rest of Cebu province was under modified general community quarantine.
“Talisay was like a marketplace everyday. Nag-iinuman kayo diyan, nagsusugal, almost nonchalant of the dangers lurking around,” the Chief Executive said.
There was also not much changes in Metro Manila, which will remain under GCQ at least until July 15 as well as nearby provinces Cavite and Rizal.
“Ang Manila and the rest of the greater Manila area, medyo there was a substantial compliance. I wouldn’t say that there were no violations. There were violations, but not in a scale I saw in other places,” Duterte said.
Prior to the President’s announcement, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases informed the local government units about their possible quarantine status to give way to appeals./PN
