The Cebu City Emergency Operations Center reported Monday that the city was on the verge of a third surge, with increasing Covid infections, deaths, and overwhelmed health facilities due to the lack of medical workers. (Screengrab from the PIO live stream)
Cebu City is on the verge of a third surge in Covid-19 infections amid rising deaths and “overwhelmed” health facilities.
Councilor Joel Garganera, the deputy chief implementer of the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC), said an additional 12 Covid-19 deaths were reported for Cebu City on Monday, bringing the fatalities to 62 for the first eight days of August.
Deaths at home increased from 10 to 20 in June to July to 26 for August. “We are not in good shape. It is very alarming,” he said.
In 15 private and public hospitals in the city, 968 beds were set aside for Covid cases, but only 69.5% have been utilized because of the lack of medical workers.
In the past 14 days, some 176 medical frontliners working at different medical facilities in Metro Cebu have been infected with Covid, further depleting their medical workforce.
“Our hospitals are very much overwhelmed already,” the councilor said.
Even isolation facilities for non-severe cases are on the verge of being overwhelmed, while those in the barangays could only “survive” for one or two weeks, he said.
On Sunday, the city opened a 150-bed Mega Stay In Center at Cebu City Sports Center for mild Covid cases to decongest hospitals.
Cebu City Acting Mayor Michael Rama has appealed to the National Inter-Agency Task Force for assistance if Covid cases continue to increase. – Ryan Sorote