RECOVERED. Forty-two Covid-19 patients are in jubilant mood after receiving the good news that they have recovered while in isolation at the Cebu City Quarantine Center in the North Reclamation Area on July 3, 2020. The Department of Health (DOH) in Central Visayas reported that 63 percent of active Covid-19 cases in Cebu City are either asymptomatic and staying at home, or with mild to moderate symptoms spending their isolation period at the barangay-run centers. (Photo courtesy of Cebu City Hall PIO)
CEBU CITY – The Department of Health (DOH)-Central Visayas said more coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) patients here are under home or village-quarantine than admitted in hospitals.
The DOH-7 data showed majority of patients are asymptomatic and being monitored at home or at barangay isolation centers (BICs) since they have manifested only mild to moderate symptoms and can be treated without being admitted in hospitals.
Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH-7 regional director, said 63 percent or 2,910 patients in this city are either in BICs or at their own home, while 1,711 active infections are still confined in the hospitals.
However, DOH-7 could not ascertain how many of those patients admitted in the hospitals have suffered severe symptoms, as Bernadas said earlier that there were individuals who breached the referral protocol of the Health agency’s operation center.
He said some patients who were manifesting only moderate symptoms went straight to the hospitals without resorting first to the first-level isolation centers managed by their barangays.
In Cebu province (excluding highly urbanized cities), around 63 percent or 555 active coronavirus-infected patients are still in confinement at the hospitals and 314 individuals are in isolation either in their homes or in a village-run care center.
In Mandaue City, 59 percent or 364 active cases are in the hospitals while 248 are under home or village isolation. In Lapu-Lapu City, 192 (60 percent) active infections are treated in the hospitals with 40 percent isolated at home or in barangay facilities.
During a presser of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID), Bernadas said the DOH-7 is now focusing on "three fronts" – community, hospitals, and harmonized data – in the fight against Covid-19 in the city.
He said the DOH regional office is closely coordinating with the Cebu City Health Department (CCHD) in harmonizing the data for release to the public.
On Tuesday, the CCHD, however, said it would no longer post updates related to Covid-19 to allow the DOH-7 to synchronize its data with the local government units in order to avoid confusion. (PNA)
