Cebu Island’s COVID-19 cases hit 2,000

Case Fatality Rate at 1.35 percent

A single – celled organism

CEBU CITY, Philippines – The total number of confirmed coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Cebu Island has reached exactly 2,000 on Monday, May 18.

This developed two weeks after the island breached the 1000-mark on May 3.

READ MORE: Cebu COVID-19 cases breach 1,000 mark

Tally compiled by CDN Digital from local governments and previous records from the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH – 7) showed that there are now 2,000 confirmed COVID-19 cases in Cebu Island.

The island province, with a population of over 4 million individuals including those from the cities of Cebu, Mandaue, and Lapu-Lapu, also recorded a total of 27 deaths as of May 17.

This means that island’s case fatality rate is at 1.35 percent, still lower compared to other areas in the country where huge numbers of COVID-19 cases are reported.

The increase in the number of coronavirus cases in Cebu has been largely attributed to the ongoing ‘aggressive and massive testing’ being conducted by local governments, particularly in Cebu City.

The bulk of the confirmed COVID-19 patients are found in Cebu City, the province’s capital where 1.1 million people are living.

With nine new COVID-19 cases logged on Monday, the city’s tally stood at 1,749 with 15 deaths and 102 recoveries.

READ MORE: Cebu City records another low in new COVID-19 cases

According to the Cebu City Health Department (CCHD), around 96 percent of those infected with the virus are asymptomatic, and will only need to be isolated.

Mandaue City has 112 coronavirus patients with three deaths and six recoveries, and majority of these figures are inmates from the city jail located in Barangay Looc.

Read more: COVID-19 update: As of May 16, Mandaue has 112 COVID-19 cases

Due to aggressive COVID-19 surveillance and testing, Cebu province recorded a total of 61 cases with eight deaths, and five recoveries.

Most patients from the province who passed away were found out to have existing health conditions.

Lapu-Lapu City, the only city, which is part of the strategized community testing and is now under general community quarantine (GCQ), has 56 COVID-19 cases with one reported death.

Meanwhile, records from DOH-7 showed that a cumulative total of 18 repatriated Overseas Filipino Workers (OFWs), still under the 14-day quarantine in some hotels in Cebu City, and four health workers were also afflicted with the disease.

Cebu is the island-province outside Luzon with the highest number of COVID-19 cases. /dbs