MANILA (UPDATE) – Cebu City hospitals are full and cemeteries cannot accommodate more burials, an official said Monday following a surge of COVID-19 cases in the city.

Wakes, interment and funerals, and burial must be held within 3 days of a person’s death under the modified enhanced community quarantine, said Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak, citing Inter-Agency Task Force Against COVID-19 guidelines.

“Lahat ng sementeryo natin napupuno na talaga sa city proper natin, subalit dun sa rural areas natin, may 2 pa tayong rural area cemetery na okay pa po. Pwede pa po natin magamit,” he told ABS-CBN’s Teleradyo.

(All of our cemeteries in the city proper are getting full but in the rural area, we still have 2 cemeteries that can still be used.)

"Yung mga mamamatay po na ‘di makakaafford ng cremation, lalo na yung positive, kailangan ilibing kaagad within 24 hours."

(Those who die that cannot afford cremation, especially those positive for COVID-19, will have to be buried within 24 hours.)

Tumulak said ambulances are circling hospitals as they wait for patients to get triaged and admitted.

The city on Sunday logged 415 fresh cases, bringing its total active infections to 2,700.

"Last week pa po nakikita natin nagpipila na ang mga ambulance natin. Di natin pwede mailagay kaagad sa emergency room [ang mga pasyente] kasi punong-puno na rin ang emergency room,” he said.

(We’ve been seeing a line of ambulances since last week. We can’t let them enter the emergency room immediately because it’s also full.)

"Nakausap ko po ang mga driver ng sasakyan. Paikot-ikot sila, aabot pa nga sila sa Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City.”

(I’ve talked to drivers of the vehicles, they’ve been circling around, they sometimes even reach Lapu-Lapu City, Mandaue City.)

The councilor appealed to national government to intervene in the hiring of more health workers as virus cases surged in the city.

"It takes the support of the national government. Kawawa naman po ang private hospitals natin kasi kulang po sila ng staff. It needs the intervention of the national government to support our private hospitals, not only private hospitals but also public hospitals,” he said.

(It takes the support of the national government, let’s sympathize for our private hospitals that lack staff.)

The region's health department early last month said that virus cases in the region were "slowly rising."

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The city's acting mayor Michael Rama had described the increase in infections as "scary."

• Rising COVID-19 cases in Cebu City 'scary,' says acting mayor

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