EOC: Mandaue’s positivity rate rises to 6.28%

Lawyer Lizer Malate, Mandaue City Emergency Operations Center head, is encouraging Mandauehanons not to let their guard down because COVID-19 is still here especially since the city’s positivity rate increased this month to 6.28 percent. | Mary Rose Sagarino

MANDAUE CITY,  Philippines — Mandaue City’s positivity rate is now at 6.28 percent. 

Lawyer Lizer Malate, head of the city’s Emergency Operations Center, said the city’s COVID-19 positivity rate had increased to 6.28 percent this month from 5 percent last month.

The average daily cases also increased from 10 in the first half of June, to 15 in the second half of June, and 18 this month. 

Based on the July 11 COVID-19 bulletin board of the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7), Mandaue City has 340 active cases.

Malate said they could not attribute the increase to a single cause of the rise in cases. 

“You cannot say nga working in a certain company nga gikan gyud na dinha. It can be attained while traveling. It can also be attained by another family member kay karun baya mas open na. Karun naay announcement ang IATF easing further kanang allowed activities and persons that can travel every zone or intrazonal,” said Malate.

(You cannot say that [you got it] in a certain company. It can be attained while traveling. It can also be attained by another family because now it is more open. Now we have the IATF announcement of easing [restrictions] further where activities are allowed and persons can travel every zone or intrazonal.)

Malate said the increase was manageable. 

He said though they were experiencing an increase, but it was not the same in the first quarter.

The city’s positivity rate during the first quarter was above 10 percent.

He said as the posivity rate would increase, utilization rate of hospitals would also be expected to increase.

Malate is reminding the public not to be so relaxed and to still follow health protocols.

He is also encouraging the public especially the Mandauehanons to register themselves already and get vaccinated as the vaccines would help to protect  them from severe symptoms of the virus.

“Remind the population nga naa gihapon ang COVID. In fact, we have announcements, institutions nga nareport nga how it is nga mas daghan anaa sa hospital karun because they were not vaccinated,” he said.

(We remind the population that COVID is still here. In fact, we have announcements, institutions that report how it is that there are several people in the hospital now that had not been vaccinated.)

“So, maybe, the slow pace of increase can be attributed to the vaccine. There’s no direct study yet.  Mao na important gyud kaayo nga Sugbuanon magdouble time ta sa pagbakuna, sa pamakuna aron dili ta makakatap ug mataptan sa (severe) virus,” said Malate.

(So, mayobe, the slow pace of increase can be attributed to the vaccines. There is no direct study yet. That is why, Cebuanos, it is important to double-time to be vaccinated, to vaccinate so that we will not infect others or be infected by the (severe) virus.)

Following this, the EOC will be recommending to Mayor Jonas Cortes the extension of the effectivity of his Executive Order No. 19 until further notice.

The EO requires all travelers coming from the provinces of Bohol, Negros Occidental, and Negros Oriental who will visit the city to present a negative RT-PCR swab test result taken within 72 hours or a negative Rapid Antigen test result taken 48 hours before departure from their place of origin.

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