DOH: No Delta variant in Central Visayas; community transmission caused case surge

CEBU, Philippines —  The surge of COVID-19 cases in Cebu and Central Visayas in recent days is not caused by the dreaded Delta variant but by the community transmission, the Department of Health (DOH) said on Monday, July 19, 2021.

“Delta variant? Hangtud karon, wala pa tay nakita sa atong Region 7, although naa nay nakit-an didto sa ubang mga region. Sa pagkakaron, wala pa tay nadawat  nga naa tay Delta variant... Katong rang nauna nga nabalita nga variants of concerns, naa nay atong recorded diri, labi na ang P.3 nga maoy ubay-ubay kanato nga ania sa Region 7,” said DOH-7 Director Jaime Bernadas.

DOH-7 has sent at least 978 specimens to the Philippine Genomic Center since January. At least 70 of the samples came out positive for the P.3 variant, 18 for the B.1.1.7 or the UK variant, and 13 for the B.1.351 or the South African variant.

None of the 19 specimens sent to PGC in July came out positive with any of the variant, including the Delta variant.

Bernadas also said all returning Filipinos and OFWs are being isolated in hotels for proper monitoring while those who tested positive for COVID-19 upon have already recovered.

He said the recent spike in cases have been caused by community transmission, particularly at workplaces, public transportation, public places, and during mass gatherings.

DOH-7 also noted an increase in the growth rate of infections in the past two weeks in most highly urbanized cities (HCU) and provinces.

These HCUs and provinces also saw an increase in the average daily attack rate with Cebu City registering the highest average attack rate at 9.19, followed by Lapu-Lapu City at 8.18, and Bohol with 7.43. This means there are more than seven in every 100,000 people who are getting infected by the virus.

“We are now experiencing increasing numbers of cases for the region and that’s true for Bohol, Negros Oriental, and Cebu Island. All of these are being followed-up and watched carefully by our Emergency Operations Centers both in the provinces and tri-cities and municipalities,” Bernadas said.

Per DOH-7’s July 18 case bulletin, Cebu City has 1,440 active cases; Lapu-Lapu has 573; Mandaue City has 449; and Cebu Province has 1,202.

Neighboring Negros Oriental has 2,540 active cases while Bohol has 2,340. Siquijor has 40 active cases.

Bernadas said current response efforts remain the same.

“Sama sa gihapon, ang atong responde sa COVID, bisan unsa nga variant, parehas ra gihapon... So kinahanglan gyud natong lig-unon ang atong surveillance system; ang atong recording system… atong mamahibal-an dayon sa tong mga health centers; unya ato dayong ma-testingan Ug ato dayong mahibal-an kung aduna ba siya COVID; atong matambalan ug atong maprotektahan and ma-isolate siya ug ang iyang pamilya,” Bernadas said.

Bernadas urged the public anew to continue observing minimum health protocols and to get vaccinated as these are the primary line of defense against infection by any variant of the virus.

Health care

The health care system in the region is not yet overwhelmed even with the recent wave of infection, Bernadas said.

DOH-7 has already expanded its COVID-19 hospital bed capacity, as well as that of the different temporary treatment and monitoring facilities (TTMF) and its referral centers.

But Bernadas reminded private hospitals to expand their COVID-19 bed capacity for the region and not to go over the critical level.

At the moment, Bernadas said, the critical care utilization rate (CCUR) in the region is still at 52 percent and about 37-38 percent for ICU beds.

Moderate risk level is set at 60 percent and above 70 percent for high risk but TTMFs are only at 30-40 percent capacity.

Wait list

Meanwhile, as regards the reported wait list of patients and ambulances in Cebu City hospitals, Bernadas said at least two hospitals have said that their emergency personnel had forgotten to utilize the 711 one hospital command for proper coordination and to avoid the wait.

With the one hospital command, emergency teams and hospitals can coordinate with each other to check for availability of rooms.

To avoid further delays in attending to patients, however, Bernadas said they have put on hold the conduct of elective surgeries in government hospitals temporarily.

Elective surgeries do not including emergency and cancer-related surgeries, but more on cosmetic and defects that are not life-threatening. — JMO (FREEMAN)