Cebu COVID-19 cases on downward trend

CEBU, Philippines — New COVID cases in Cebu City and the rest of Cebu province are on a downward trend, according to a member of the OCTA Research Group.

OCTA fellow Guido David said new cases in Cebu City have been on a two-week decline since peaking on July 31.

David said the city recorded an average of 56 new cases per day from Aug. 9 to 15, down 17 percent from the average of 68 daily cases in the preceding week.

Cebu City has an average daily attack rate of 5.37 new infections per 100,000 people, considered low based on metrics used by OCTA.

Healthcare utilization rate was also low at 33.8 percent while intensive care unit (ICU) bed utilization was at 42.5 percent.

The reproduction rate or the number of people that a person who tests positive for the virus can infect, dropped from 1.03 on Aug. 6 to 0.92 on Aug. 13.

The positivity rate in Cebu province decreased from 12.4 percent on Aug. 13 to 10.9 percent on Aug. 15.

Despite the drop in cases, the Department of Health (DOH) advised the public to remain vigilant.

Meanwhile, Central Visayas logged 47 critical patients due to COVID.

The DOH regional office said ICU bed utilization rate was at 32.32 percent.

Four million people or 83.76 percent of the target population in Central Visayas have been fully vaccinated while 856,389 have received their booster shots.

From July 31 to Aug. 7, Central Visayas recorded 1,072 new cases or an average of 153 infections per day. – The Freeman