‘Cebu City COVID-19 cases may have peaked’

CEBU, Philippines — New COVID-19 cases in Cebu City appeared to have peaked and are on a downward trend, a member of the OCTA Research Group said yesterday.

OCTA fellow Guido David, however, noted that the city remains at “very high risk” for COVID-19 even as he urged the public to continue to observe minimum health protocols.

Citing data from the Department of Health (DOH), David said Cebu City recorded an average of 650 new cases per day from Jan. 22 to 28, down from the seven-day average of 722 reported on Wednesday.

The average daily attack rate decreased from 69 daily new infections per 100,000 people to a still “very high” 62.27.

The positivity rate hardly changed from 40 percent to 39 percent.

The reproduction number or the people that a positive person can infect, dropped to 2.03 from 3.94 last week.

Health care utilization is at “moderate” 60 percent from 68 percent last Wednesday.

Despite the drop in new cases, Mayor Michael Rama extended the implementation of his executive order limiting the movement of residents until Feb. 15.

The EO also bars children aged 11 and below from entering malls and other establishments.

“Cases of the prevailing health issue may now be at a downtrend, a result of our Oplan Puyo Gihapon, but we remain steadfast in observing proven health protocols and in full throttle in our vaccination campaign,” Rama said.

The DOH-Central Visayas office said there are 7,777 active cases in Cebu City as of yesterday.

OCTA said new cases in Baguio, Angeles in Pampanga, Cavite, Laguna, Rizal and Batangas are also going down.

1,000 hospital workers infected

In Davao City, nearly 1,000 health workers at the Southern Philippines Medical Center (SPMC), the main COVID-19 referral hospital in Davao region and nearby areas, contracted the virus.

SPMC executive director Ricardo Audan said among those infected are 35 nurses assigned at the emergency room.

“Only 30 are symptomatic... Most of them are under home isolation or quarantine, which give us hope we could better address the needs of those who have been hospitalized,” Audan said.

He said he asked national pandemic task force head Carlito Galvez for augmentation to address the shortage in health workers.

“We could possibly ask from the Armed Forces of the Philippines and the Bureau of Fire Protection as well as the Philippine National Police,” Audan said.

Audan said local government units should also allow private hospitals to accept COVID patients.

Free antigen testing

In Negros Occidental, the provincial government is offering free antigen testing for inbound travelers starting Feb. 1.

Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson clarified that a negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test taken 72 hours prior to arrival is still required, but visitors could avail themselves of free antigen testing.

The cities of Bacolod and Iloilo also lifted the negative RT-PCR test requirement until tomorrow.

Lacson said the provincial government is also willing to provide antigen testing for Bacolod-bound travelers. – Edith Regalado, Gilbert Bayoran, Caecent Magsumbol/The Freeman