An official of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) has asked shipping lines to establish an online ticketing system for locally stranded individuals (LSIs) passing by this capital city.

City Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the IATF-EID here, said in a virtual presser on Tuesday that the city government has been preparing for the arrival of LSIs from Luzon who availed of the “Hatid Tulong” program of the national government.

“I am urging the shipping lines that if possible, they should have an online system where the LSIs who will be arriving in Cebu can buy their tickets for their next trip to different areas in the Visayas and Mindanao,” Garganera said in Cebuano.

The call was made in order to prevent LSIs from swamping the city and in the light of the intention of the health authorities here to prevent coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) transmission.

He warned that the city will not allow the entry of LSIs who do not have a ticket for their successive trip via sea, air, or land to their home provinces or towns.

The lawmaker who heads the EOC said they will be deploying personnel from the Philippine National Police at the pier area where “no-entry” points will be implemented to make the waterfront area exclusively for arriving LSIs.

The IATF and EOC are yet to release the ingress-egress plan for the pier area here.

Meanwhile, Garganera said at least two village chiefs here have submitted their Barangay Lockdown Plan, following Mayor Edgardo Labella’s issuance of Executive Order No. 85, detailing granular lockdown on six sitios in five barangays.

Labella ordered a team to distribute goods to the families affected by the strict quarantine protocols.

“After certain areas in Cebu City were placed under lockdown, I have directed a City Government team to immediately mobilize resources to provide assistance to the affected individuals who have been strictly prohibited from going out of their homes,” he said in a statement posted on the Cebu City Hall public information office’s social media page.

The granular lockdowns will run for several days and will be lifted depending on the assessment by the EOC and IATF. (PNA)