438 die from COVID-19 in 2 weeks in entire Cebu

CEBU, Philippines — At least 438 persons have died of COVID-19 in the whole of Cebu in August 2021 alone, data from the Department of Health-7 showed.

Cebu province contributed 60% to these deaths as it logged 263 from August 1 to 13.

Over the same period, Cebu City logged 105 deaths (24%); Lapu-Lapu City, 40 (9%); and Mandaue City, 30 (7%).

DOH-7 data also showed that the province has been recording double-digit deaths since August 2, when it registered 13 deaths. Since then, the number has not gone down, reaching as high as 35 deaths on August 13.

In Cebu City, the highest number of deaths recorded in a single day was 13 deaths on August 9.

In Lapu-Lapu City, the highest was 11 deaths on August 11, while the highest in Mandaue City was August 7 with eight deaths.

On a weekly basis, the data showed that Cebu province’s deaths in the first week (105) grew by about 50% in the second week (158). The second week figure does not even take into account yet the deaths on August 14.

As of August 13, active COVID-19 cases in the entire Cebu have ballooned to 12,039. This is broken downs as follows: Cebu province, 4,740; Cebu City, 3,913; Lapu-Lapu City, 1,735; and Mandaue City, 1,651.

According to separate data from the Provincial Health Office, some 1,258 individuals have died in Cebu province since the start of the pandemic.

Of this number, 678 or 54% were incidental findings, 282 or 22% died of COVID-19, while 298 or 24% had no diagnosis yet.

PHO’s tally revealed that the province’s cumulative recoveries have already reached 19,312 or 79% of the total cases recorded.

MECQ still

Earlier, presidential spokesperson Harry Roque announced that the highly urbanized cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu will remain under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) until August 31, 2021.

Cebu Province, meanwhile, will remain under general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions. Eleven local government units in Cebu province have been placed under MECQ for two weeks starting August 11 – Samboan, Sibonga, Argao, Cordova, Oslob, Liloan, Consolacion, Minglanilla, and the cities of Talisay, Carcar, and Naga.

Commenting on the extension, Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama earlier said the development had not surprised him.

“That said, let us brace for the worst. The COVID situation is not getting any better. We need to take more heightened restrictions to, once and for all, contain the fast-spreading Delta variant. We all need to be tough to bend this tough time,” Rama said in a press conference on Friday, August 13.

Based on data from the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), Cebu City has 3,498 active cases with 85 COVID-19 confirmed deaths in August, so far. The city’s critical care utilization rate has also gone up to 74.3 percent with five hospitals in critical level and four other hospitals at high risk. (FREEMAN)