Cebu City back to ECQ due to rising cases

Department of the Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año clarified that only Cebu City has been reverted to an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ).

He stated that Talisay City in Cebu is under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ), and other areas in Visayas are already under general community quarantine (GCQ).

Provinces in Central Visayas, such as Bohol, could shift to modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) but chose to remain under GCQ to limit people's movement.

The decision to place Cebu City back to ECQ was made due to a case doubling time of fewer than seven days and a significant rise in critical care utilization against critical care capacity.

Department of Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire clarified that Central Visayas is still under GCQ, except for Cebu City (ECQ) and Talisay City (MECQ), refuting online posts that the entire Cebu province was under ECQ.

Vergeire emphasized that only the Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) and Spokesperson Harry Roque have the authority to announce quarantine policies.

The government will conduct the next assessment on cities and provinces by the end of the month.