THE Department of Health-Central Visayas (DOH 7) recorded only 25 new Covid-19 cases in the region on Monday, Aug. 17, 2020 — the second consecutive day when new recorded cases did not reach 100.
The DOH 7 also reported 391 new recoveries and 10 additional deaths.
The figures brought the total active Covid-19 cases in the region to 3,645; total recoveries to 13,196, and total recorded deaths to 1,050.
The DOH 7 clarified that not all the additional recorded deaths occured in one day but over a period of time.
Seven additional deaths were logged in Cebu City between June 25 to Aug. 16; one in the City of Naga on Aug. 11, and one each in Talisay City and Minglanilla on Aug. 13.
Of the new 25 cases, seven are from Cebu City, while the others are from Mandaue City (2); Lapu Lapu City (2); Consolacion (2); and Cebu Province (12).
Active cases
A total of 463 of Cebu City’s active cases are admitted in health facilities while 926 are under home isolation.
Of the active cases in Mandaue City, 198 are confined; while 572 are in isolation.
In Lapu Lapu City, 144 Covid patients are admitted; while 451 are under home isolation.
In Cebu Province, 167 are admitted in hospitals; while 464 are quarantined.
In Talisay City, 17 are admitted and 46 are under isolation. In Minglanilla, six are admitted and 45 are under isolation and in Consolacion, 21 are admitted while 46 are under isolation.
Central Visayas
Elsewhere, Negros Oriental has one admitted patient while 18 others are under isolation.
Bohol has seven admitted cases and 50 quarantined patients; while Siquijor has three admitted patients.
Earlier, the DOH 7 said the Covid-19 transmission is slowing down in Cebu City as indicated by the record low rates that measure the intensity of the epidemic.
Dr. Mary Jean Loreche, DOH 7 spokesperson in Covid-19 updates, said critical care utilization rate, which refers to the proportion of beds and ventilators being used in healthcare facilities, has gone down to less than 30 percent in the last two weeks from 72 percent in July and 89 percent in June.
The positivity rate, or the percentage of people who test positive for the virus, was also lower at 4.1 percent on Aug. 15 compared to 9.7 percent on July 15 and 30.2 percent on June 15.
It now takes 90 days for cases to double in Cebu City, an improvement from the 7.47 days in June, she added.
National tally
While the Covid situation has improved in Cebu City, at the nation’s capital, a different scenario.
A total of 4,836 new infections were recorded on Tuesday, Aug. 18, with more than half of the cases or 2,959 coming from the National Capital Region (NCR).
While the provinces with the highest number of new cases are Laguna (321), Cavite (220), Rizal (185), and Bulacan (145).
These areas were reverted to modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) on Aug. 4, but are scheduled to shift to the less stringent general community quarantine (GCQ) on Wednesday, Aug. 19.
The DOH reported that with the new cases, the country’s total has gone up to 169,213 as of Tuesday.
Of the total, 53,665 are active cases, referring to patients who are still in hospitals or in quarantine.
Patients in critical condition were also increasing and accounted for 1.3 percent of the active cases; while those in severe condition comprised 0.9 percent.
Mild cases made up 91.5 percent of the total active cases while those without symptoms accounted for 6.2 percent.
The DOH also reported 182 additional recoveries on Tuesday, bringing the total to 112,861.
Seven additional mortalities were reported, raising the death toll to 2,687. (WBS, Marites Villamor-Ilano/SunStar Philippines)