CEBU, Philippines — The active COVID-19 cases in Cebu City are down to 1,197 as of April 3, according to the data from the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
The cases come from 59 villages in the city. Cebu City has 80 barangays.
This number is seen to further decrease once the 217 additional recoveries are validated by the Department of Health (DOH)-7 and formally incorporated into the statistics. Based on DOH-7 April 3 data, Cebu City has still 1,414 active cases.
The lower numbers are not a cause for city residents to lower their guards yet again.
If at all, City Councilor and EOC chief implementer Joel Garganera said residents should take extra precautions, especially at the peak of the Holy Week when activities and gatherings are expected to increase.
He said the city can no longer afford another lockdown.
“Right now, we are going downwards in terms of active cases but we need everyone to be more mindful of the compliance with the basic health protocols because lockdowns are no longer an option. We can no longer afford to have one,” said Garganera.
At present, the critical care occupancy rate (CCOR) in all hospitals here is now down to 32.1 percent.
For public hospitals alone, the CCOR is at 45.4 percent. It means that out of 355 COVID-19 dedicated beds, only 166 are occupied.
In private hospitals, the CCOR is 24.9% or 164 out of the 658 COVID beds are occupied.
“Our data are really good (daily positive case, critical care occupancy, isolation centers, enforcement),” said Garganera.
To go on living, he said, one should learn how to co-exist with COVID-19.
“We need to go on with our lives and should learn how to co-exist with COVID because inoculation is really a long process,” he said.
Meanwhile, Lapu-Lapu City’s active cases are also down to 800.
On the other hand, Mandaue City has 895 active cases and 1,514 cases for the rest of the Cebu province as per the DOH-7 data.
As for other areas in Central Visayas, Negros Oriental logged 165 active cases, Bohol with 315 and Siquijor with 21. — KQD (FREEMAN)