To bring down coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases, the city government here has come up with the “barangay territorial management” system– method of aligning inter-village coordination to minimize the movement of residents.
Acting Mayor Michael Rama, in a press briefing on Friday, told village chiefs to manage their own territories to prevent the spread of coronavirus and its Delta variant from among the barrio residents.
In a statement, he urged barangay officials “to work with your neighbors and agree on specific points for an inter-barangay boundary management.”
“Village leaders, clan patriarchs and matriarchs, take initiative to police your own ranks. Work and coordinate with your barangay officials. While an EO (executive order) is forthcoming, ayaw na mo’g hulat (don’t just wait). Start connecting, all protocols notwithstanding,” Rama said.
Rama advised residents to act in unison as a people in avoiding more miseries and a “very depressing turnout of the Covid-19 pandemic and prevent losing members of the family”.
He reassured the public that the city government has been doing well in its “hybrid approach” in the fight against the virus through the protocols established under the modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) status as well as ramping up vaccination.
He warned residents that authorities will arrest violators of the minimum health protocols such as safe physical distancing and the mandatory wearing of face mask and face shields.
“Avoid gatherings inside residences and within compounds. Go out only if essential. Magtinabangay ta ani (Let’s help one another in this aspect),” he said.
Rama also said he will issue another EO in line with the extension of MECQ status from Aug. 16 to 31, as retained by the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF).
He said the city is asking Police Regional Office (PRO)-Region 7 chief Brig. Gen. Ronnie Montejo to augment the police force, in anticipation of a creation of a new task force that will strictly implement measures in time of the quarantine classification up to the end of August.
“The figure that we have shown that it (situation) is not yet improving. (That is) unless we will have sufficient medical staff,” he said.
Meanwhile, Cebu City Health Department head Dr. Jeffrey Ibones said the city needs at least 500 nurses “to fill the gap in our public and private hospitals”.
Ibones said the city has hired close to 40 nurses spread through the city’s temporary treatment and monitoring facilities, barangay isolation centers, and the newly opened mega stay-in center at the Cebu City Sports Center.
Source: Philippines News Agency
