5,000 recover from COVID-19 in Cebu City

CEBU, Philippines —  Some good news: The number of patients in Cebu City who have recovered from COVID-19 has reached at least 5,000.

According to the Department of Health (DOH) - 7, Cebu City recorded 111 new recoveries on Monday, July 28, bringing to 5,075 its total number of recoveries on that day.

With 43 additional cases on that day, the city has a remaining 3,266 active cases. In total, it has 8,813 cases with 472 deaths.

Neighboring Mandaue City recorded 17 recoveries on that day, bringing the total to 560. It has 1,861 total number of cases of which 1,237 are active.

It recorded 58 new cases and five deaths on July 28. Sixty-four have died from the disease in the city.

In Lapu-Lapu City, 19 more patients have recovered, bringing the number of recoveries to 558 as of Tuesday.

The city has a total of 1,733 cases of which 1,107 are active. Fifteen new ones and two deaths were recorded on Tuesday. Sixty-eight have died from the disease in Lapu-Lapu.

In Cebu Province, meanwhile, 90 more have recovered from COVID-19, bringing the total of recoveries to 1,290, also as of Tuesday.

The province still has 1,611 active cases of its total 3,073 cases. Ten more have died, bringing its number of deaths to 172.

Region-wide in Central Visayas, 7,581 have recovered from the 15,664 people who have been infected by COVID-19.

Just yesterday, more were added to this number after 101 law enforcers in the region were released from the Malasakit Recovery Center in Cebu City. This means, 323 cops have beaten the disease.

Police Regional Office-7 Director Albert Ignatius Ferro said 181 more are undergoing treatment, among whom are 131 patrolmen in training who have just taken oath recently.

“Based on contact tracing, it is highly possible that sa ilang laundryman, sa mga galuto sa ilaha, because they are frequently going to the market. Those are the possible sources of infection,” Ferro said.

Most of the 101 cops who have recovered are from the aviation security group, maritime, Lapu-Lapu City Police Office, Consolacion Police Station, and Cebu City Police Office.

Ferro said these cops tested negative twice and underwent isolation for 14 days. Now that they are well, they will undergo counseling and psychological intervention.

“Remember that they have underwent into a depressive, physical and mental challenges so we need to prepare them back to be stronger police officers because I have also asked them to be part of our Makatao Malakasakit plasma donor program,” Ferro said.

Ferro called on Cebuanos who will need these donations to come forward, especially those affected by COVID-19.

Aside from being blood plasma donors, the cops who have recovered will also form part of the contact tracing teams.

As a whole, Region 7 still has 7,302 active cases in the region. As of Tuesday, 781 have died. JMO  (FREEMAN)