Third wave of COVID-19 hits Central Visayas
MANILA: Central Visayas, particularly the island provinces of Bohol and Negros Occidental, are being besieged by the “third wave” of COVID-19 cases highlighted by an alarming spike in infections, a senior official of the Department of Health (DOH) regional office warned.
“We are in the third wave now. We have been monitoring the cases in the last four weeks in Central Visayas not just Cebu City and our epidemic curve shows an upward trend,” said Eugenia Mercedita Canal, the head of the DOH regional epidemiology and surveillance unit in the region.
Canal cited a report showing that as of Friday, Central Visayas recorded a total of 8,295 cases with Negros Oriental province at the top of the list with a total of 3,639.
Following at second, she said, was Bohol province with 2,244 and at third was Cebu City, with 1,005.
On the other hand, Canal said Cebu province itself showed only confirmed active COVID-19 cases of 701 while Siquijor had 20.
Positivity rate in the region, Canal said, stood at 9.31 per cent which is higher than the World Health Organization’s (WHO) threshold of 5 per cent.
The major factors that contributed mainly to the spike in COVID-19 infections included violations of basic health protocols like the mandatory wearing of face mask and face shield as well as washing of hands and observance of social distancing, Canal said.
At the same time, she said that an increasing number of people have insisted on atending events indoors without proper ventilation as she pointed out: “With these major factors mentioned, the virus will persistently thrive.”
In a related development, Cebu City Councilor Dave Tumulak warned against the increasing number of residents taking photos or video shots of neighbors found positive of the virus, who are being taken from their homes to isolation facilities.
“That’s discrimination,” Tumulak said which could lead to the filing of criminal and civil charges against violators, including the penalty of paying hety fines as contained in an ordinance passed by the city council in 2020 when Cebu City was besieged by a surge in COVID-19 cases.
“Before the passage of the ordinance,” Tumulak noted, “people would hide when an ambulance would stop in their neighbourhood to take a confirmed COVID-19 patient to the isolation center. Now, it’s different. People would go out of their homes to take photos or video shots of the patients being transported to the isolation wards.”