Philippine Manila remains coronavirus ‘epicenter’, Cebu City is new hotspot

MANILA, Jun 17, 2020, The Manila Times. Metro Manila is the hardest-hit by the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) pandemic, Malacañang said on Tuesday, even as President Rodrigo Duterte decided to keep the status quo by maintaining general community quarantine (GCQ) in the metropolis, The Manila Times reported.

In a virtual press briefing, Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said Cebu City does not compare with the situation in Metro Manila because the former “was just one city.”

“Hindi ko naman po masasabi ‘yan dahil Cebu is only one city. Hindi gaya po ng Metro Manila na because of the continuity of [16] different cities and [one] municipalit[y], mas malaki po ‘yung area ng Metro Manila (I cannot say that because Cebu is only one city. It’s not like Metro Manila because of the continuity of 16 different cities and one municipality, it has a larger area),” Roque said.

“Metro Manila is still the epicenter with 14 million inhabitants. Let’s just say that in terms of individual cities, pinakamataas na po ang kaso ng Covid sa Cebu City. Na-overtake na po n’ya ang Quezon City (Cebu City has the highest number of Covid cases, overtaking Quezon City),” he added.

Cebu City has turned into a coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) hotspot and has been placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) because of its soaring virus cases that have greatly strained its critical care capacity, The Manila Times reported.

President Rodrigo Duterte placed the city under ECQ late Monday.

“The numbers in Cebu City are now alarming. They have exceeded the number of confirmed cases in Quezon City on a per-day basis, meaning they now have the highest incidence of Covid-19 in the country,” Palace spokesman Harry Roque Jr. said.

The dire situation prompted Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. to send a surveillance team to the southern city.

Under ECQ, no public transportation is allowed, and only essential industries and services are allowed to operate. Movement of people is also restricted with only one person per household allowed to leave the home to essential tasks.

Roque said a strict home quarantine rule would be enforced, and only essential industries would be allowed to operate in Cebu.