Gwen to DOH: Report only ‘active’ cases
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia has called on the Department of Health (DOH) to revise their reporting of cases of the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases and only declare “active” cases and not the cumulative total of those infected.
Active cases, Garcia said, should only include those COVID-19 patients that continue to have symptoms and will take away recovered patients and those patients that did not have manifest symptoms.
Garcia said reporting the cumulative total of the cases do not reflect the real situation in the province since there are already several patients who have recovered.
As of the June 9, 2020 COVID-19 data of the province, the cumulative total of COVID-19 patients is at 309.
However, only 61 are “active” or those with symptoms, of which 49 are admitted to hospitals and 12 are under home isolation.
The province has also reported a total of 87 recoveries and 27 deaths.
According to the regional COVID-19 data of the DOH-7 as of June 7, 2020, the cumulative total number of cases in the region, most of which coming from Cebu island, is already at 3,875.
Of the number, only 778 were admitted;1,606 are under home isolation; and 1,419 have recovered from the infection.
Garcia earlier said that the province will already implement a time-based policy for the discharge of the COVID-19 patients.
Under the time-based policy, COVID-19 patients who are clinically well within 21 days from the onset of the infection may already be released.
Department of Tourism in Central Visayas (DOT-7) Regional Director Shalimar Tamano, who met with Garcia and some mayors on Wednesday afternoon, June 10, also said that reflecting the COVID-19 status in the province based on the cumulative total may also give a negative reputation to the province, which is considering to reopen its tourism industry.
Garcia earlier said that the province is inclined to reopen its tourism industry soon in order to “resuscitate” its economy.
The meeting this Wednesday even discussed protocols that the tourism-destination local government units may implement for every tourism activity once they resume. /bmjo
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