IF A picture paints a thousand words, then recent photos of the situation outside one private hospital here in Cebu City depict a dire scene.
Patients lying in makeshift beds with oxygen tanks by their side line the sidewalk. Oxygen tanks standing tall next to parked vehicles connect to an unseen passenger inside.
These images are reminiscent of what took place in India months earlier when the highly transmissible delta variant of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) was first detected as it ravaged through the subcontinent killing thousands of people.
To the unfamiliar, it would appear the pandemic Armageddon everyone is afraid of has finally come to Cebu. Or has it?
Yes, the number of cases is high. As of last count, it stood at 2,942. In fact, on Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, Cebu City logged 415 new Covid-19 cases, according to the Department of Health (DOH) 7 case bulletin. A new high.
Alarming? Indeed. Especially when you take into account the DOH 7 already confirmed that the delta variant is already here.
This might explain why residents who had been unwilling to get the jab against Covid-19 have been trooping to vaccination centers. Not just in Cebu City, but throughout the province. In a way, the delta scare is the solution to the problem of vaccine hesitancy that had plagued the island and the rest of the archipelago.
But is the danger real? Yes. No one is saying it isn’t.
Can members of the public protect themselves against infection?
Again, yes. It’s as simple as keeping your hands clean and wearing a mask, says Dr. Maria Van Kerkhove of the World Health Organization. Just make sure the mask covers your nose and mouth and that your hands are clean when you put on the mask and take it off.
Avoid crowded places and observe social distancing, she also says. If you are indoors, open a window or two to make sure the room has good ventilation.
Finally, get vaccinated.
These precautions have proven to keep the disease at bay. Otherwise, the overall death toll of 4.22 million worldwide would be much higher.
Is the delta variant deadlier? It is but only because it infects a lot more people so more people, especially those who are vulnerable, die. Based on recent DOH figures, 94.3 percent of the infected have recovered, while only 1.75 percent have succumbed to the disease. That’s no consolation to the family and friends of the deceased, but the number could be worse. Much worse.
No doubt the scenes outside the private hospital have shocked many. Perhaps even causing panic among the few. But the hospital is only one of 75 hospitals in the entire Cebu. But even if the pictures don’t tell the whole story, they serve as a warning of what awaits Cebu if its people don’t get their act together.