Workplace transmission comprises almost 50% of Cebu City’s new cases

Cebu City’s breakdown of community transmission from August 16 to August 24. | Courtesy of EOC

CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City’s Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases recorded from August 16 to August 24, 2020 are mostly from workplace transmission.

According to the data released by the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), workplace-based transmission, including from health care facilities, supermarkets, other public spaces, and workplace to household transmissions, was the main source of 84 new cases of the COVID-19.

This comprises 49.41 percent of the total number of new cases recorded in the same period of time, which reached 170.

Household transmission is now only 34.1 percent of the new cases, while hospital transmission comprises 16.47 percent.

With this development, the EOC urged workers to be more vigilant when they are in their workplaces and seriously practice the basic health protocols to prevent transmission.

Read: Mayor Labella plans to maintain some anti-COVID measures even under MGCQ

Workplace transmission can highly impact household transmission as the worker can bring home the virus.

Mayor Edgardo Labella said the city is concerned with this data. But he said there is a way to prevent the transmission, which is by strict compliance of health protocols in the workplaces.

Mass testing will continue as well as long as there are still cases recorded. This will be partnered with intensified contact tracing.

“We will never stop because the virus is still around,” said the mayor.

The mayor reminded establishments that if they are found violating health protocols, they may face sanction from the city government. /bmjo