Now below WHO threshold: Positivity rate down

CEBU, Philippines — After reaching as high as 56.62 percent in positivity rate for COVID-19 infection in January 21, 2022, Cebu City heaves a sigh of relief anew after the number dropped to 3.65 percent a month later on February 21.

The 3.64 percent rate is now lower than the World Health Organization(WHO) threshold of five percent, which means the city is generally in the safe zone as far as its cases are concerned.

It recorded only 21 new cases on February 20, a far cry from the hundreds it recorded daily in January at the height of the surge believed to be driven by the highly contagious Omicron variant.  At that time, the city was reeling from the massive devastation caused by Typhoon Odette shortly before Christmas in 2021.

“The city has finally reported a positivity rate within the 5 percent WHO threshold with a daily positivity rate of 3.64 percent for today,” said Councilor Joel Garganera, chief of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), on February 21.

As of February 21, 2022, Cebu City only has 985 cases spread in 63 barangays. Seventeen other barangays are without active cases. It recorded its highest number of active cases on January 23, 2022 at 7,370.

Cases in Barangay Guadalupe have also gone down to only 57 while cases in Barangay Talamban are down to 32. Barangay Tisa now only has 30 while six other barangays have less than 30. Fourteen other barangays have less than 20 cases, and the rest have less than 10 active cases.

The critical care systems at hospitals are also in the pink of health with only 28.04 percent or 18 of 480 COVID beds occupied as of this writing. The sad news, however, is that 44 have succumbed to the virus this month.

Muscle memory

Garganera said the city is able to contain the surge faster this time around as responding to the pandemic has now become ‘muscle memory’.

“Compared to other surges, we were able to overcome this recent surge more efficiently in just less than two months… This is not only due to the nature of the Omicron variant but it is ultimately a result of years of experience in the pandemic response of the EOC. It is now muscle memory for us,” Garganera said.

 Aside from that, the full support of the government and its people has also played a vital role in stopping the spread of the disease, Garganera noted.

 Mayor Michael Rama reminded residents anew to safeguard their health.

 “Let us always safeguard our health. Amping lang ta kanunay, and let us all do this together, each and everyone of us. Usa ta’ng tanan sa pag-amping. This is our shared responsibility as a community, as a city,” Rama said in a statement.

Making a play on ‘PM,’ a reference to private message on social media, Rama said ‘PM’ is the key to sustaining the city’s success – preventive medicine and minimum public health protocols plus vaccination.

 “Anaa na sa ganghaan ang atong kagawasan, ilabi na alang sa atong mga kabataan ug katigulangan nga nagpabiling piniriso sa kaugalingong panimalay. Ma-gawasnon man ta, dili kini makompleto kung dili apilan og pag-amping,” Rama said.

 He is set to release a new executive order as regards the city’s protocols on COVID response on the city’s Charter Day on February 24.

More ‘relaxed’ enforcement

At the Cebu City Police Office, authorities announced that the public can expect a more ‘relaxed’ enforcement of COVID protocols that will focus on information dissemination. This means that instead of being apprehended right away, violators will only be warned and be reminded of rules. However, they can still be arrested if they remain resistant to following protocols.

 "So far, wala pa tay nadawat nga bag-o nga kamandoan, no, but existing gihapon to atoang standing nga directive sa city mayor but ang atoang implementation ani is more relaxed… it does not mean nga di nata manakop... sa pagkakaron man gud, nakita nato nga atong mga establishment, the way sa mga customers sa restobars, na-habit na nila nga there are still guidelines," Parilla said.

 Rama himself wants the augmentation forces in the city to remain even as the city is now under Alert Level 2 if only to maintain police visibility.

 “I would still insist nga ipabilin… ipabilin. But I could not stop if they wish to withdraw… But I would like to have them still, until the need will not anymore be there,” Rama said.

Parilla said cops will now focus its efforts in interior portions of the city and the ‘regularized’ Oplan Bulabog will shift its focus on crime prevention.

 "Atong gihangyo ang katawhan nga observe gihapon sila just like what they did nga nisunod sila sa mga directives para mas mapadayon nato atong more relaxed nga classification and more relaxed nga implementation," he said.- Iris Hazel M. Mascardo, JMO (FREEMAN)