‘Nothing to be alarmed’ – Rama on uptick in COVID cases in Cebu City

A medical worker, wearing a protective suit and a face mask, administers a nasal swab to a patient at a coronavirus disease (COVID-19) testing center in Reze near Nantes, France, December 15, 2020. REUTERS/Stephane Mahe

CEBU CITY, Philippines – As far as Cebu City is concerned, the uptick in the number of new COVID-19 cases recorded is nothing to be alarmed of.

This assurance came from Mayor Michael Rama himself, who urged the public not to panic and  ‘overtly worry’ about reports that the city experienced a rise in COVID-19 patients. 

“The (rising) COVID cases, it’s not only in Cebu. In fact, it is a concern but not really… seriously has to be (worried over),” Rama told reporters in a phone interview on Wednesday, August 10. 

The mayor said the city has ‘sufficient resources and experts’ to handle another possible surge of COVID-19 cases.

Citing data from local health officials, Rama also pointed out that COVID-related occupancy levels in hospitals, both private and public, remained in the safe zone despite the city having a high positivity rate of 10.83. 

He added that admissions due to the infection over the past 10 days stood at 50 only.

“So (we don’t) need to much, much, much worry. Nabalik man gani ta, napositive ta pero look at me, I’m asymptomatic. No signs at all. But (the virus) is there,” said Rama. 

Based on the COVID-19 tracker of the Department of Health (DOH), Cebu City has recorded a total of 930 new cases in the past 14 days. 

Active cases, however, stood at 692 only as of August 9. 

The same tracker showed that the average bed occupancy of all 17 identified COVID facilities is at 39.7 percent only as of August 8. /rcg 

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