(Eagle News) — Interior Secretary Eduardo Año on Wednesday, June 24, said the national government would also look into what he said was the spike in COVID-19 cases in Leyte.
In a radio interview, Año said he would be accompanied by Carlito Galvez Jr., the chief implementer of the country’s national action plan against COVID-19.
“Biglang nag-surge doon dahil ang sabi may dumating na LSIs (locally stranded individuals) at OFWs (overseas Filipino workers) na pinagmulan ng spike (in COVID-19 cases),” Año said.
He said he and Galvez would talk to local government officials and look at the “actual situation sa ground at kung ano rin ang maitutulong sa Leyte.”
The total number of COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas, which includes Leyte, has reached 435 after four cases were reported on Tuesday.
Año had said at least two COVID-19 cases in Leyte returned to the province through the national government’s Hatid Probinsya program, which aims to assist individuals left stranded in Metro Manila amid the imposition of community quarantines.
The program is different from the national government’s Balik Probinsiya program, which is the administration’s long-term solution to decongestion in Metro Manila, and aims to boost development in the provinces.
Earlier, President Rodrigo Duterte ordered Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu to go to Cebu to assess the COVID-19 response there.
The Cebu City government has cancelled all the quarantine passes it issued the residents upon the recommendation of the Department of the Interior and Local Government.
In a video message uploaded on Tuesday night, Cebu City Mayor Edgar Labella appealed for “calm and understanding,” but noted everyone had a “common goal, which is to save our community from this pandemic.”
The cancellation of the quarantine passes came a day after President Duterte noted what he said was the Cebuanos’ slow response to the COVID-19 pandemic.
