By Ella Dionisio

The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) has yet to decide if Cebu City will be placed under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) after the regional Department of Health (DOH) confirmed local transmission of COVID-19 Delta variant cases.

In a radio interview Wednesday, Presidential spokesperson Harry Roque said the IATF only agreed to place Tuguegarao City under ECQ starting August 15.

"There is still no announcement when it comes to Cebu City," Roque said.

"So, there is still no news about that as of yesterday during IATF meeting," he added.

Cebu City is under modified enhanced community quarantine until August 15.

Mary Jean Loreche, chief pathologist of the DOH Central Visayas, told the ''Laging Handa'' virtual public briefing that 36 out of 120 samples they sent to the Philippine Genome Center for sequencing showed these are Delta variants.

Loreche said these 36 persons have recovered. They showed no travel history abroad, had no contact with suspected cases nor were returning overseas Filipinos, she added.

In its national update as of Tuesday, OCTA Research said Cebu City had the second highest number of new cases with 280 after Quezon City's 389.

The average daily attack rate is 27.92 percent and ICU bed utilization is at 70 percent. DMS