Cebu City is new PH COVID-19 epicenter

Cebu City has been identified as the new epicenter of COVID-19 in the Philippines, surpassing Metro Manila due to a significant increase in infections, critical cases, and deaths.

Presidential Peace Adviser Carlito Galvez Jr. stated that Cebu City's new cases have exceeded those of the National Capital Region, with a high death rate.

As of Sunday, Cebu City recorded 4,562 COVID-19 cases, the highest in the country, followed by Quezon City.

The city also leads in new cases over the past 14 days, with 910 infections reported.

Interior and Local Government Secretary Eduardo Año noted that while Metro Manila had 356 new cases from 17 local government units, Cebu City tallied 131 new cases as of Sunday.

Año explained that Cebu City's status as the new epicenter is due to its high rate of infection, particularly considering it is a single city compared to Metro Manila's 17 LGUs.

Government officials will visit Cebu City to find more sites for isolation facilities, as many infections occurred because positive patients were staying at home.

The current surge in cases in Cebu City is expected to last for another two to three weeks, similar to Metro Manila's peak earlier in the pandemic.

Galvez attributed the rise in cases to the previous poor implementation of the enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) and emphasized the need for aggressive testing and more stringent restrictions.