Cebu City positivity rate improves

CEBU, Philippines — Cebu City posted a back-to-back low COVID-19 positivity rate on Tuesday and Wednesday, which correspondingly translated to a lower number of active cases as of the moment.

Positivity rate is the measure of samples that turn out positive out of the total samples collected and tested.

Based on Emergency Operations Center data, the city posted a positive rate of 3.81% (only 15 positive out of 394 samples) on Tuesday, April 26, and only 4.38% (only 44 positive out of 1,004 samples) on Wednesday, April 27 -- both well below the threshold of the World Health Organization which is 5%.

The city has not recorded a back-to-back daily positivity rate that is below the WHO threshold before. In fact, it has always been more than the threshold with the highest recorded on April 2 at over 9%.

The 15 new cases last Tuesday was also the lowest number of new cases logged in a single day for this year so far, next to January 1 which only had 11.

EOC data as of April 27 also showed that there were only 609 active cases left following the recovery of 58 individuals and one additional death.

The active cases come from 57 of Cebu City’s 80 barangays. This means that 23 barangays are enjoying a COVID-19-free status as of the moment.

Guadalupe remained on top in the number of active cases, but its active cases have since gone down to as low as 33 while Lahug and Sambag 1 trailed next with an identical number of 25.

Talamban and Tisa had 22 and Apas had 19 active cases left.

With the further lowering of the cases, Cebu City’s critical care occupancy rate also remained low

at 24.3% for both public and private hospitals.

For the private hospitals alone, there is only 15.5% occupancy or 101 occupied and 550 vacant COVID-19 beds.

EOC deputy chief implementer and City Councilor Joel Garganera continues to remind everyone never to be complacent as complacency, he said, is the number one enemy on the pandemic. — JMD (FREEMAN)