92 COVID-19 recoveries in Central Visayas as cases reach 1,939

Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) illustration | STOCK PHOTO

CEBU CITY, Philippines – There are now 92 patients from Central Visayas whose health systems have been cleared from the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) as of May 13, 2020, data from the Department of Health here (DOH-7) show.

Of the 92, DOH-7 said 64 are from Cebu City. They also announced that results of the repeat test of another healthcare worker came out negative of COVID-19.

“We expect an increase in the number of laboratory negative as the barangays that have been on lockdown and the infected residents finish their mandatory quarantine for 14 days,” said DOH-7 director Dr. Jaime Bernadas in a press release.

Laboratory negative is the term used to classify patients whose repeat tests came out negative of COVID-19 infection.

DOH-7 has tallied a total of 1,939 with 27 deaths in the region, resulting in a case fatality rate of 1.39 percent.

Cebu City

1,701 of the 1,939 documented cases in Central Visayas are from Cebu City, also considered as the region’s epicenter of the COVID-19 outbreak.

Local officials attributed this development to the continuous massive COVID-19 tests being conducted.

With 13 deaths as of May 13, 2020, Cebu City remains to have the lowest coronavirus death rate among areas with the most number of COVID-19 cases in the country, at 0.76 percent only.

Additional data from DOH-7 showed that as of May 10, 2020, a total of 8,436 samples from Cebu City have been examined through polymerase chain reaction (PCR) machines from certified laboratories for COVID-19 infection.

The figures include specimens repeat tests from previously confirmed COVID-19 patients. /bmjo