DESPITE a slight spike in Covid-19 cases in July, Cagayan de Oro City’s health risk indicators remain well within Alert Level 1 status, the City Health Office (CHO) said on Monday.
“Based on data sourced from FASSSTER Philippines of the Department of Health, Cagayan de Oro City’s average health care utilization rate as of July 17 is at 15.66 percent and this covers the city’s 11 private and public hospitals including Northern Mindanao Medical Center,” said CHO medical officer Dr. Ted Yu Jr. during the resumption of City Hall’s health press briefing on Monday.
Dr. Yu’s disclosure came as City Hall’s chief epidemiologist Dr. Teodulfo Joselito Retuya Jr. pointed to the relaxation of quarantine restrictions as possibly contributing to the slight spike in Covid-19 cases.
“You would find some people not wearing their face masks and even some security guards of establishments not checking on the QR code of visitors,” Dr. Retuya said.
CHO data showed that Cagayan de Oro City logged two new Covid-19 cases while its active cases went down to 52 as of 10 pm on July 18. The day before, the city logged eight cases while its active cases were pegged at 59 cases.
“Cagayan de Oro City’s total bed utilization rate for its 11 private and public hospitals is pegged at nine percent out of the 323 beds allocated for Covid-19 patients,” Dr. Yu said.
From July 1 to 17, the city’s daily Covid-19 cases averaged in double figures seven times — 14 cases on July 3, 17 cases on July 12, 10 cases on July 14, 17 cases on July 15, and 10 cases on July 17, Dr. Yu said.
“That’s why we’re calling on those who have yet to be vaccinated to secure their primary doses and eventually their first booster shots (for their protection against Covid-19),” said Dr. Retuya, himself a Covid-19 survivor.
Aside from their protection, Dr. Retuya said vaccinated persons have an advantage over unvaccinated persons in terms of travel requirements.
“While travel restrictions were relaxed in most areas, unvaccinated persons are required to undergo swab tests (at least one day before scheduled arrival),” Dr. Retuya said.
Vaccinated persons are also less likely to contract severe Covid-19 symptoms, he added. (Stephen Capillas of City Information Office)
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