COVID-19 heat map in Central Visayas as of October 3, 2020.
CEBU CITY, Philippines — The Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) has confirmed that the rise in cases in the region has already constituted a third wave of the Coronavirus Disease 2019 (COVID-19).
Dr. Eugenia Mercedes Cañal, the head of the DOH-7 Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit, said that they have been monitoring the cases in the region for the past four weeks and saw a consistent rise in infections.
“Yes. We are in a third wave now. We have been monitoring the cases for the last 4 weeks in Central Visayas, not just Cebu City and our epidemic curve shows an upward trend,” said Cañal.
As of July 10, 2021, the active cases in the region stand at 8,295 with the bulk of it from Negros Oriental at 3,639 followed by Bohol at 2,224.
The most recent part of the region that has felt the surge is Cebu City as following months of a relatively low number, the active case has once again reached 1,005. The region saw 564 new cases of the COVID-19 on July 9, 2021.
The rise in cases had been attributed to several factors including the evolving nature of the virus, social mixing, inappropriate use of public health and social measures, and inequitable and uneven distribution of vaccines.
“The virus keeps on evolving as it is its nature to mutate resulting to different variants which increases the virus’ transmissibility. People gather together in particular events: birthdays, weddings, fiesta, and the likes. These events drive the transmission because you bring people together without observing the public health measures,” said Cañal.
The DOH-7 also notes a decrease in compliance among the public for health measures such as wearing masks, avoiding crowded indoor spaces, spending more time indoors, improving ventilation, and washing hands.
As for the vaccine distribution, Doctor Van Baton, the DOH-7 spokesperson for vaccination, said that the supply is simply limited and the distribution and accessibility are affected by this.
Furthermore, the number of vaccinated senior citizens in the region has not even reached 25 percent after more than two months of rolling out vaccination for them, causing an imbalance on the target groups to be vaccinated.
“Vaccines work and we need to vaccinate those who will be more affected by covid infection: frontline workers who directly care for COVID cases and those who are the most vulnerable in the community.”
“We remind those who have been vaccinated to continue practicing minimum public health protocols and to continue being vigilant when going out for work or for leisure,” said Baton. /rcg
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