Central Visayas breaches 16k mark in COVID-19 cases

CEBU CITY, Philippines—On the eve of the announcement for the new quarantine classifications for all areas in the country, Central Visayas has breached the 16,000-mark in the total number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases.

The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), in its latest COVID-19 case bulletin, announced that the region already has a total of 16,149 cases. 

This developed after DOH-7 logged 221 more COVID-19 cases on July 30, 2020. 

Majority of this number, 8,966 (or comprising around 56 percent), is still from Cebu City which is tagged as the epicenter of the outbreak here in Central Visayas.

Read: PH logs 3,954 new COVID-19 cases—IATF

Cebu City is the lone area in the country that remains under a modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) while most other parts, including Metro Manila, were placed in a more relaxed general community quarantine (GCQ). 

Mandaue City comes next to Cebu City with the highest number of coronavirus cases with 1,927. 

The province of Negros Oriental has also breached the 100-mark in its total documented COVID-19 patients. As of July 30, DOH-7 recorded a total of 103 COVID-19 cases there. 

Meanwhile, the number of patients who recovered from COVID-19 continues to rise. 

DOH-7 on July 30 logged 507 more recoveries, bringing its total number to 8,560. 

COVID-19-related mortalities, on the other hand, have reached 824. The regional health office recorded 35 more deaths on July 30. 

Siquijor still remained as the only island-province in Central Visayas free from any documented COVID-19 case. /bmjo