CEBU CITY, Philippines — As Cebu City enters its fourth week under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ), household transmission of the new coronavirus continues to be the most prevalent source of new infections.
Data from the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) showed that from September 5 to September 18, 96 of the new coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in the city came from households.
The same data also reported outside transmission, with patients who have travel history in public markets and supermarkets, and individuals authorized to do necessary travels topping the list.
Within the same period, at least 41 COVID-19 patients from Cebu City were discovered to have caught the SARS-CoV-2, the virus that causes COVID-19, in markets and grocery stores.
Another 41 were classified as ‘general’ which means they happen to be either authorized persons outside residence (APOR), locally stranded individuals (LSI), or returning overseas Filipino workers (OFW).
Workplace transmission came in second with 34 and was followed by those coming from construction sites at third with 17.
READ MORE: Rise in COVID cases in construction sites worries Cebu City officials
Other sources of infection, according to EOC’s tally, came from hospitals that involved healthcare workers getting the virus during their line of duty (7), window-shopping (5), neighborhood transmission (6), hospital-acquired (5), delivery services (4), carenderia or eatery in English (3), workplace-related (2), and dialysis-centers / laboratories (2).
Local officials here reiterated their reminders to the public to strictly follow health protocols, and not to let their guard down just yet even if the city had further eased its quarantine restrictions.
To recall, the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-MEID) has placed Cebu City under MGCQ since September 1.
The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH- 7) has already documented a total of 9,881 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cebu City as of Saturday, September 19.
Comprising around 89.5 percent of this figure, or 8,839 out of the 9,881, have already recovered while 665 passed away. This meant that the city’s active cases remained at 385. /dbs