10 Covid deaths in Poro, Camotes in less than 1 month, says mayor

LOCAL officials in Poro town, Camotes group of islands recorded 10 confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) deaths in less than a month.

Poro Mayor Gary Rama said they are also assessing nine other fatalities to determine if they also succumbed to the disease.

Rama told SunStar Cebu the confirmed fatalities either died at the islands’ only district hospital in San Francisco town or at home since the hospital was already full.

Rama admitted that for the last two weeks, the town had been overwhelmed by the number of Covid-19 fatalities.

He added that some critical patients couldn’t be hospitalized since most hospitals in Cebu are already full.

“For the past two weeks, I would often hear of more people dying. For the last two days, I have not received any report of more fatalities so I hope this will continue. We have patients who refuse to go to the hospitals, while some only go to the hospital when their condition worsens. Some were even refused admission or died along the way,” Rama said in Cebuano.

He said three Covid patients died in the last week of July, while seven have died this month.

The town’s vaccination rollout has to be put on hold since Wednesday, Aug. 18, after two personnel of the Rural Health Unit tested positive for Covid-19.

The two RHU personnel’s close contacts were immediately isolated and swabbed, the mayor said. However, they all tested negative for Covid-19.

Rama said he plans to resume vaccination next week.

As of Saturday, Aug. 21, Poro has 18 active cases, 24 recoveries and 10 deaths.

The town has recorded a total of 52 Covid-19 cases since the start of the pandemic last year.

Meanwhile, local officials in the southern town of Minglanilla are asking the Department of Education 7 to allow them to use a public school building as a makeshift isolation facility.

They said their 30-bed isolation facility is almost full.

Mayor Elenito Peña told SunStar Cebu that he already submitted a request-letter to Cebu Provincial Schools Superintendent Marilyn Andales to allow them to use one of the buildings at the Lipata Central Elementary School as an isolation facility. (MVE)