DESPITE pioneering the implementation of the optional use of face masks outdoors and in non-crowded places, Cebu, including Cebu City, remains at low risk from the coronavirus disease (COVID-19), the independent OCTA Research said yesterday.
Data released by the OCTA Research showed that “cases in Cebu and Metro Cebu (Cebu City, Mandaue and Lapu Lapu) remain low as the province remains at low risk.”
“All indicators for Cebu and Metro Cebu were favorable,” it added.
Numbers show that the province’s average daily attack rate is at 0.77, or less than 1 per day per 100,000, as of September 27.
Similarly, the positivity rate in Cebu is at 5 percent, as of September 26, and is within the recommended positivity rate of the World Health Organization (WHO).
The reproduction rate, however, is at “moderate” classification at 0.99, which is close to the threshold of 1.
Cebu is also at a plateau with 40 new COVID-19 cases per day over the past week.
As for its healthcare utilization rate, OCTA said Cebu has an overall occupancy rate of 27 percent.
The ICU occupancy rate is even lower at 12 percent, as of September 26.
It was back in June 2022 when then Cebu Governor Gwendolyn Garcia lifted the mandatory wearing of face masks in open and outdoor spaces. Earlier this month, Cebu City Mayor Mike Rama issued a similar policy allowing optional face mask use outdoors.
The city and provincial policies have been adopted by the national government.
Infectious disease expert Dr. Rontgene Solante said the decreasing protection from COVID-19 vaccines and the ability of new subvariants to evade the antibodies from the vaccines are among the factors that have contributed to the increase in active cases in the country.
In an interview with CNN Philippines, Solante said other factors in the uptrend in cases include increased mobility of people, the holding of more face-to-face gatherings, the converging of people indoors during sudden downpours, and the easing of the face mask policy.
“Partly, there’s a contribution pero tingin ko (but I think) it’s more people who are going out, more people in meetings, gatherings which come at the expense of these highly transmissible subvariants,” Solante said when asked about the role played by the relaxed health policy in the recent increase in COVID infections.
The Department of Health (DOH), in its latest weekly COVID-19 case bulletin, recorded a 22 percent increase in new cases in the past week, with the daily average of cases recorded at 2,556.
“We need to emphasize that even if a case is mild, we should not be complacent about it,” Solante said as he again stressed the importance of getting a booster shot after being fully vaccinated.
He noted that WHO has monitored six subvariants of the Omicron variant which were initially described as more transmissible and may evade current vaccines. The six new sub-variants were identified Omicron subvariants BA.5.1, BA.5.2, BA.2.75, BQ.1, BJ.1, and BA.4.6.
Health experts have repeatedly said that protection from vaccines wanes in time, which makes getting a booster shot more important.
Solante, meanwhile, raised concerns about the government’s decision to allow standing passengers in public utility vehicles (PUVs) in areas under Alert level 1, saying that it is still considered an “indoor” space where one cough or cold droplet from a single person can infect other passengers, especially those who are unvaccinated or those not wearing face masks.
“That will always be a problem dahil nandoon ka sa loob na siksikan, wala ng distance na mataas. May isa na inubo or sinipon lang, especially if some of them are not wearing a face mask, talagang may magkakahawaan diyan (That will always be a problem when you’re in a cramped space, and there is no physical distancing. If one passenger coughs or has colds, and if some others are not wearing face masks, there will definitely be a transmission),” Solante said. — With Jocelyn Montemayor
