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CEBU CITY, Philippines — There are more coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients who have been successfully discharged than those currently admitted for hospital care, data from health officials show.
In a report furnished to members of the media on May 29, the Department of Health here (DOH – 7) and its Regional Epidemiological and Surveillance Unit (RESU), the region has documented a total of 2,588 COVID-19 patients as of May 27.
Based on the document signed by Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH – 7 director, and Dr. Eugenia Mercedes Cañal, RESU cluster head, the majority of these patients in Central Visayas, or 1,820 out of the 2,588, are under home isolation.
Data also showed that the number of coronavirus patients, who recovered and discharged from hospitals and quarantine facilities, stood at 408, comprising 15.8 percent of the total count.
This is more than the number of COVID-19 patients confined in hospitals which is at 306 or 11.8 percent only.
As of May 27, DOH – 7 recorded 55 COVID-19 deaths in which 49 percent are incidental while 11 percent are due to infection of SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes the disease. As a result, Central Visayas’ case fatality rate is at 2.5 percent.
“Most incidental deaths were from Cebu City (25 deaths, 45.4 percent) and Cebu province (15 deaths, 27.2 percent),” they added.
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DOH – 7 also said COVID-19 in Central Visayas peaked last April 30.
Cebu City, which has been conducting massive testing since April 14, still has the highest number of confirmed COVID-19 cases, with 2,111.
DOH – 7, together with its RESU, has released a modified COVID-19 reporting that included not only the status of confirmed patients but also their age distribution, and gender classification.
The agency, in a statement issued on May 29, also confirmed that they were experiencing delays in publishing COVID-19 updates for Central Visayas in the past days.
“The RESU is currently conducting database updates and clean-up. Rest assured, we can expect in the next regular postings a better way to understand our data in the region,” DOH -7 stated.
Age and gender distribution
Health officials found out that most of the COVID-19 patients in Central Visayas had been male, and those belonging to the 21-30 age group.
“1,593 or 61.6 percent of the total of the cases were males… And the most affected age group is 21-30 years old,” the report stated.
The revised COVID-19 reporting also included a comparative table on infectious diseases circulating in the region as of March 31, 2020.
The table showed that dengue, a mosquito-borne disease, is still considered as ‘the most infectious’ with 8,150 cases and an attack rate of 1.02 per 1,000 individuals. /rcg