By Emme Rose Santiagudo
For two consecutive days, Western Visayas has not recorded additional cases of coronavirus disease (COVID-19), according to the Department of Health – Center for Health Development Western Visayas (DOH-CHD 6).
In a health bulletin issued on Sunday, DOH-CHD 6 only reported one new recovery, a 29-year-old female Overseas Filipino Worker (OFW) repatriate from La Castellana, Negros Occidental (WV Patient No. 83).
The total registered cases in the region remains at 107 with 23 active cases.
According to the health department, 69 percent, or 74 of the 107 cases in the region have recovered from the disease while 15 percent or 16 cases remain under quarantine. Seven are still admitted to hospitals while 10 have expired.
Meanwhile, 31 of the total cases in the region are repatriates.
Western Visayas has been classified as moderate-risk for COVID-19 as of May 18, 2020, based on community quarantine and decision tool of the National Inter-Agency Task Force.
Health parameters in the region, particularly its case doubling time and critical care utilization rate, are the reasons for its moderate-risk classification.
Doubling time, which is the duration in days for cases or deaths to double, measures the speed of transmission of Covid-19.
In previous interviews Dr. Ma. Sophia Pulmones, chief of the Local Health Support Division, said the case doubling time in WV is 8.23 days, which means that the number of COVID-19 cases in the region doubles between 7 and 30 days.
Lower numbers indicate faster outbreaks while higher numbers mean slower outbreaks.
Another health parameter used is the critical care utilization rate which represents the health system capacity such as Intensive Care Unit (ICU) beds, isolation rooms, isolation room beds, ward beds, and mechanical ventilators dedicated to severe COVID-19 patients.
Pulmones said the critical care utilization rate in the region is at 15.21 percent which means that the region is in the safe zone.
Based on the case doubling time and its critical utilization rate, all provinces and highly urbanized cities (HUCs) in Western Visayas is on the “initiation” stage of the pandemic.
“Based on our case doubling time and critical utilization rate, the region is on the initiation stage of the pandemic or has moderate-risk with localized transmission,” she said in previous interviews.
Pulmones said majority of the cases in the region were either close contacts of confirmed cases or imported cases or repatriated OFWs who arrived in the region.
The peak of the COVID-19 cases in the region was between March to April, she added.
