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CEBU CITY, Philippines – The number of patients admitted in Central Visayas hospitals due to coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) has exponentially risen.
The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) reported late Wednesday evening, June 24, 2020 that there are 1, 840 COVID-19 cases being monitored in hospitals.
Last June 1, the figures from DOH-7 only stood at 390.
READ MORE: DOH 7: Majority of COVID-19 deaths in Central Visayas ‘incidental’
Majority, or 1,344 of the 1,840 patients confined in infirmaries for the infection, are from Cebu City. Cebu province came second with 288, and it was followed by Mandaue City with 125 and Lapu-Lapu City with 79.
Emerging COVID-19 hotspots
DOH- 7’s latest COVID-19 bulletin showed they are currently monitoring a total of 3,916 active cases of COVID-19. The numbers included those under hospital care.
But more than half, or 2,076 of these, are placed under isolation in quarantine centers, which means the patients are found to be asymptomatic.
Meanwhile, DOH-7 has already documented a total of 6,897 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Central Visayas, and bulk is still from Cebu City with 5,088.
Cebu province followed with 761. Both the province and its capital were among the “emerging COVID-19 hotspots” enumerated by DOH’s central office during their press briefing on Wednesday.
Siquijor remains free of any confirmed COVID-19 cases.
READ MORE: DOH names 6 ‘emerging COVID-19 hotspots’ in Visayas
Recoveries in the region have also climbed to 2, 772, and the total number of COVID-19 patients who died has reached 209.
More than half of the coronavirus recoveries and deaths in Central Visayas were reported from Cebu City also, at 2,284, and 118 respectively.
Central Visayas is the region outside Metro Manila with the highest number of COVID-19 cases recorded.
Cebu City, tagged as the epicenter of the outbreak in the region, went back to enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) not only due to a spike in COVID-19 cases but also on the surge of patients needing hospital care. /bmjo