By Joseph B.A. Marzan
The Department of Health-Western Visayas Center for Health Development on Friday warned against complacency after the number of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) deaths passed the 100 mark on Sept. 10, 2020.
As of Sept. 11, 2020, Western Visayas now has 109 COVID-19 deaths, with 8 new reported fatalities.
The latest deaths include:
– an 82-year-old female from Bacolod City, who died on Sept. 1;
– a 72-year-old male from Bago City, Negros Occidental, who died on Aug. 31;
– a 69-year-old female from Bacolod City, who died on Aug. 30;
– a 64-year-old male from Bacolod City, who died on Aug. 31;
– an 82-year-old male from Talisay City, Negros Occidental, who died on Aug. 31;
– an 82-year-old female from Bacolod City, who died on Aug. 29;
– a 59-year-old female from Silay City, who died on Aug 22; and
– a 57-year-old male from Bacolod City, who died on Sept. 1.
Dr. Ma. Jocelyn Te, Medical Officer IV of the DOH-WV CHD, said in a press briefing that the public should definitely be worried.
“We should be worried because, remember, all of us are potentially infected. We can catch the virus anytime. Aside from those who have died, majority [of the cases] have co-morbidities. There are even others, who, we don’t even know, have already been infected. That’s the reason we should not be complacent,” Dr. Te said.
Dr. Te also explained that these deaths are being reported by the DOH-WV CHD only upon the submission of the death certificates of the cases to them, leading to some fatalities being reported as late as two weeks.
“The death certificates don’t arrive until later. There is a slight delay of 1 or 2 days. As long as there is nothing being submitted to the [Regional Epidemiology Surveillance Unit], we cannot confirm that they have died from COVID-19,” she said.
Meanwhile, the total number of confirmed COVID-19 cases as of Sept. 11 are now at 7,144 (with 3,292 active cases) after DOH-WV CHD reported 261 new cases.
Out of 222 new local cases, Bacolod City topped the list with 86 new cases, followed by Negros Occidental with 56, Iloilo City with 35, Iloilo province with 23, Capiz with 11, Aklan with 7, Guimaras with 3, and Antique with 1 new local case.
The new cases which are yet to be verified as to their category are at 32, with Negros Occidental province and Iloilo City reporting 13 new cases each, Capiz province with 4 new cases, and Iloilo province with 2 new cases.
Locally Stranded Individuals have 6 new cases, with 4 new cases from Negros Occidental, and 1 new case each from Capiz and Iloilo provinces.
Overall, 170 new cases are asymptomatic, 44 new cases have Influenza-Like Illness (ILI), 32 new cases are still for verification, and 15 new cases have Severe Acute Respiratory Infection (SARI).
The DOH-WV CHD also reported 154 new recoveries on Sept. 10, increasing the total number of COVID-19 recoveries in the region to 3,743.
Bacolod City reported the most number of recoveries with 98 new recoveries, followed by Iloilo province with 35, Capiz province with 9, Aklan province with 5, Negros Occidental province with 3, Antique province with 2, and Guimaras province and Iloilo City with 1 new recovery each.
The DOH-WV CHD released a total of 1,534 laboratory test results from 10 accredited Sub-National and Molecular Laboratories across the region.
