Metro Manila (CNN Philippines, February 4) — Even with still a high number of active COVID-19 cases, a local official said Cebu has already reached its “peak” in the current Omicron-driven surge.
Retired General Melquiades Feliciano, COVID-19 Task Force deputy chief implementer for the Visayas, noted the peak was reached more than a week ago and the infections are going down at least for Metro Cebu area.
If the decline continues, Cebu’s will be downgraded to the more eased Alert Level 2, he added.
Feliciano also pointed out that the current surge in Cebu is different from the Delta-driven surge last year as they did not see hospitals getting overwhelmed with COVID-19 patients.
He recalled that in last year’s surge, ambulances were lining up with patients waiting to be admitted. This did not happen in the current surge, he added.
Both public and private hospitals in Cebu did not reach critical levels, which is also a factor for de-escalation, Feliciano said.
Among those hospitalized, 80% were unvaccinated and partially vaccinated individuals, while the other 20% were fully vaccinated, but mostly with co-morbidities, according to the official.
“Vaccination is really the way to go,” he emphasized.
Specifically on declining infections, Feliciano attributed this to the high vaccination rate in the highly-urbanized Metro Cebu area, and restrictions imposed by the local government units such as curfew and protocol inspections in establishments.
According to the Department of Health in Central Visayas, Cebu City still has a total of 6,936 active cases while Cebu Province has 4,156 active infections as of February 2.
Lapu-Lapu City on the other hand has 1,319 active cases while Mandaue City has 998 active infections.
Last week alone, Cebu City’s active cases have reached more than 7,700 infections.
