Cebu City COVID-19 patients to be moved to isolation facilities

COVID-19 positive patients in Cebu City will no longer be allowed to undergo home quarantine and will instead be transferred to isolation facilities, according to Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Secretary Eduardo Año.

Año stated that about half of the nearly 4,000 cases in Cebu City were previously under home quarantine, raising concerns about adherence to proper protocols.

The Inter-Agency Task Force on Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) will visit Cebu City to identify locations for new isolation facilities, as community transmission is partly due to positive patients not being isolated.

Complacency, violation of quarantine protocols, and individuals hiding their infection status have also contributed to the sustained spread of the virus in the city.

Cebu City is considered the new epicenter of COVID-19 in the Philippines due to its high infection rate.

To address the rising cases, the Philippine National Police (PNP) Chief, General Archie Francisco Gamboa, has ordered the immediate arrest of quarantine violators without warning.

Additional health workers have been deployed to Cebu City, and the Talisay District Hospital is being considered as another COVID hospital.

The PNP has also deployed Special Action Force (SAF) commandos to enforce quarantine rules, which has reportedly led to increased compliance among residents.