The Emergency Operations Center of Cebu City has logged only six deaths of coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 for the month of October. | CDN Digital file photo
CEBU CITY, Philippines — Cebu City recorded only six coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths for the entire month of October 2020 after the Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) wrapped up their data harmonization.
On October 31, 2020, Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementor of the EOC, said that it had been the lowest deaths recorded in a month since the peak of the pandemic in June 2020.
The death toll on October 2020 is 50 percent lower than in September 2020, which recorded a total of 17 deaths.
Read: Active COVID-19 cases in Cebu City down to 179
The councilor said that there were no more backlogs in the reporting of the deaths caused by COVID-19.
This is a welcome development for the EOC as this signifies that the hospitals are already capable of treating patients to recovery and that testing and surveillance are fast enough to render interventions before a patient develops worse COVID-19 symptoms.
On October 30, 2020, the city recorded only eight new cases taken from 710 samples, for a positivity rate of 1.1 percent.
Garganera urged the public to keep following the health protocols such as wearing of face masks, face shields, maintaining social distancing, and having regular disinfection.
The EOC urged the public never to be complacent especially when working outside their homes./dbs