CEBU CITY – With fresh cases and new deaths continuing to increase, the city’s COVID-19 situation is “very alarming.”
"We are not in good shape. It's alarming, very alarming" City Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the city’s Emergency Operations Center, said in a press conference Monday.
EOC data showed that from June to August, the city recorded 7,576 new cases of COVID-19 infections.
As of August 7, the city had 3,640 active cases.
From July to August, the city tallied 560 COVID-19 deaths and the figures could still go higher as there are other cases that are reported late, according to Garganera.
In the first eight days of August, the city already had 50 COVID-19 deaths.
"Our hospitals are very much overwhelmed already," said Garganera
Acting Mayor Michael Rama agreed with Garganera’s assessment.
"Figures don't lie and liars cannot figure," said Rama.
Garganera disclosed that the occupancy rate of the 15 hospitals in Cebu City was at 69.5 percent as 673 out of the 969 COVID-19 beds are already occupied.
With new cases increasing rapidly, the 296 available beds could be gone easily in just a matter of days.
“I talked with some of the infectious disease experts, they told me that we are just about to start this third surge," said Garganera.
Garganera added that 176 medical frontliners have been tested positive for COVID-19 in the last 14 days.