CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City has reached more than 500 cases of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) since its first recorded cases on March 28, 2020.

The first confirmed cases were 19 individuals. A month later on April 28, 2020, Cebu City now has 548 cases of the deadly virus.

Mayor Edgardo Labella said a majority of these cases are asymptomatic. They have been found after mass testings were conducted in the affected barangays including Barangays Labangon, Luz, Kalunasan, Inayawan, and the Cebu City Jail, among others.

On Tuesday, April 28, the city recorded 73 new cases with 72 from Sitio Callejon in Labangon and one case in Opra, Barangay Kalunasan.

Labangon currently has a total of 104 cases and the barangay has imposed a total lockdown since April 22 to control the spread of the virus.

Kalunasan’s cases are mostly at the Cebu City Jail, but this time, the case is found in a residential area.

“These patients will immediately be transferred to the designated Barangay Isolation Center (BIC), where they will be quarantined and treated by the Cebu City Health Department,” said the mayor.

The BICs are usually found in the barangay’s public elementary or high school buildings. There are at least 19 BICs in Cebu City.

The positive cases in Labangon will go to the Labangon Elementary School for isolation. If they have symptoms, they will be brought to the Cebu City Medical Center (CCMC), Bayanihan Quarantine Center, or the Block 27 at the North Reclamation Area.

Only those with severe symptoms will be brought to the medical facilities. /rcg