This Week in Cebu (June 14 to 20, 2020)

Governor Gwendolyn Garcia signed Executive Order No. 17-F which ‘encourages’ the holding of church activities in the province of Cebu. Under general community quarantine (GCQ), such religious activities are allowed but strict physical distancing should be observed and a 50% holding capacity in venues should be maintained. Archbishop Jose Palma assured the governor that Catholic churches in the Archdiocese are prepared to hold masses. The governor also left further guidelines and restrictions on the hands of the churches [1].

The Department of Tourism released Administrative Order 2020-002 which allows hotels to reopen if the area they are located in is placed under modified general community quarantine. Hotels, resorts, motels, homestays, and other accommodation facilities will be allowed to accept guests given that they follow the 50% capacity direction [2]. Currently, the province of Cebu is under GCQ, but it has submitted an appeal to the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID or IATF) to be reclassified and downgraded to MGCQ.

Daily disinfection and regular sanitation procedures are being observed in Landers Superstore Cebu. The safety measures are heightened for the safety of the staff and customers. Online shopping is also available as the majority of the population stay at their homes. Shoppers within Cebu City who wish to purchase grocery products can visit landers.ph and have their groceries delivered between 7:00 AM to 7:00 PM [3].

In a statement, the Metropolitan Cebu Water District (MCWD) stated that it will still charge customers even if they consume only a little amount of water [4]. The consumers from MCWD need to pay the monthly minimum service charge of PhP152 for zero to 10 cubic meters of water even if they don’t consume water. The statement was released by MCWD spokesperson Edna Inocando after the water service provider received complaints from customers saying that they are still collecting payments even if the water supply is not enough in some parts of the company’s service areas.

A new and more affordable rate for COVID-19 testing was rolled out by the Philippine Health Insurance Corporation (PhilHealth) for its members [5]. The previous price of the benefit package was PhP9,150. After it was questioned by senators, PhilHealth released the following new package rates: PhP3,409, PhP2,077, and PhP901. The health insurer states that it will issue the new rates’ date of effectivity soon. Central Visayas now holds three testing laboratories which are accredited by PhilHealth: Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, Cebu TB Reference Laboratory, and Allegiant Regional Care Hospitals in Lapu-Lapu City.

Confirmed fatalities around the world from the COVID-19 virus reached at least 400,000 on June 7, 2020. At least 6.9 million people have been infected by coronavirus worldwide according to the tally reported by John Hopkins University. The United States leads as the country with the most number of deaths with nearly 110,000 confirmed records, while Europe as a whole holds the record with more than 175,000 deaths [6].

Go to Yoorekka for more COVID-19 updates in Cebu.