COVID-19 SITUATION. Department of Health Region 7 director Dr. Jaime Bernadas (below, left) and Cebu City councilor Joel Garganera (below, right) give updates on the Covid-19 situation in Central Visayas and Cebu during a virtual interview hosted by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas on Monday (Oct. 12, 2020). Bernadas said Cebu City seems to be developing ‘herd immunity’ from the viral disease. (Screengrab from OPAV video)
CEBU CITY – The regional chief of the Department of Health (DOH) here has observed that this city could be developing "herd immunity" from the coronavirus disease (Covid-19) as Central Visayas is seen to have flattened the epidemiological curve.
DOH-7 regional director Dr. Jaime Bernadas on Wednesday cited the results from the surveillance testing using anti-body tests on the vendors at the Carbon Market, the city’s biggest wet market, recently conducted by the DOH and Cebu City Emergency Operations Center (EOC).
He disclosed that 47.48 percent of the 2,191 Carbon market vendors or 1,047 tested IgG positive. This indicates that they were asymptomatic and had already recovered from active infection of the virus.
“This is very significant because more and more people have now responded to the exposure of the virus, which means we are on the road to achieving ‘herd immunity,’” Bernadas said in a statement released by the Office of the Presidential Assistant for the Visayas after a virtual interview hosted by the latter.
Herd immunity can be achieved if 70 to 80 percent of the community has been exposed to the virus and developed immunity, he explained.
On the other hand, 63 vendors yielded IgM positive results but when they underwent PCR tests, only 33 samples were found positive for coronavirus.
Bernadas said all the 63 vendors with IgM positive results, including the 33 with positive PCR results, were isolated as they may still transmit the virus.
“Our Covid situation in Central Visayas and Cebu City has really improved a lot from being the hotspot to the better managed pandemic in the entire country, if not the best,” he said.
As of Oct. 12, the total number of Covid-19 cases in Central Visayas is 22,671 with total recoveries pegged at 20,309 and active cases of 1,008.
“It means we are already on the verge of going down to almost less than a thousand cases and on a downward trend, which is a welcome development. And hopefully, this trend continues,” Bernadas said.
Statistics showed that from the end of July to October 12, the number of Covid-19 cases has been decreasing significantly, he added.
Since September, the Covid-19 curve has already flattened for nearly six weeks now, Bernadas said.
Cebu City is among the areas in the region that have shown major improvement.
“Once tagged as the epicenter of Covid-19, Cebu City has significantly brought down its Covid-19 cases daily, from 13 deaths per day three weeks ago to zero deaths as of Oct. 12,” according to Cebu City Councilor Joel Garganera, also the deputy chief implementor of the Cebu City EOC.
“Today, 41 of 80 barangays in the City have zero Covid-19 cases for the last 14 days,” Garganera said.
He added that in the last few days, the city’s new cases have been on single-digit to zero, which is a far cry from three months ago.
“By June, we had the most number deaths at 370; by July we had 180 deaths; August with 22, September with 17 deaths, and for the first 10 days of October, no reported deaths,” Garganera said.
Bernadas said that continued massive testing, contact tracing, strict implementation of health protocols, and the coordinated efforts of the government and the private sector are the key factors in the successful management of the Covid-19 crisis in Central Visayas.
However, both Bernadas and Garganera agreed that this should not be a reason to be complacent.
“Remember that as long as there is Covid-19 and no vaccine at hand, everything is still fragile and anything can still happen, let us remain vigilant in our daily activities,” Bernadas said. (PNA)
