C. Visayas posts record-low daily Covid-19 tally

CENTRAL VISAYAS  registered its lowest daily number of coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases on Aug. 24, said Dr. Jaime Bernadas, regional director of the Department of Health (DOH) in Region 7.  

The DOH-Central Visayas Center for Health Development reported that there were only 22 new cases in the region recorded on Monday.

All the new cases are from Cebu province, including Cebu City, which has 11 of the 22 patients. Negros Oriental, Bohol, and Siquijor recorded zero new cases.

“This is very heart-warming for everyone,” Bernadas said during a virtual interview hosted by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas on Tuesday.

He pointed out that only 22 new cases were positive out of the 462 tests by nine laboratories in Cebu.

“This is very significant because the past three weeks, there is a slow decline of positive cases and continuously went down until now,” Bernadas said in Cebuano.

As of Aug. 24, the region has 18,370 total Covid-19 cases; total recoveries of 14,569 and active case tally of 2,729, he added.

Bernadas said cases are on a downward trend compared to the figures in the last week of May up to July.

“This is encouraging for our health workers and our hospitals who have responded well,” he said.

The critical care utilization went down to the safe level of 30 percent and below, Bernadas said.

“It’s a breather for the health workers but it doesn’t mean that we should be complacent in the barangays, municipalities, and cities,” he said.

Bernadas reminded everybody to continue observing health protocols.

Meanwhile, Dr. Gerardo Aquino Jr., medical center chief of Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) also observed that Covid-19 cases at the hospital have gone down.

He said compared to the last week of May up to the middle of July, there were days when the new cases at the hospital would reach 170 to 180.

“As of Tuesday, only one patient tested positive for Covid-19,” Aquino said.

The VSMMC, which has been focusing on treating Covid-19 patients, plans to slowly open up the hospital to non-Covid patients, he said.

Aquino said they plan to gradually open up the hospital’s Out-Patient Department and elective surgery services in the first week of September upon approval of the DOH. (By Carlo Lorenciana)