The alarming case of Central Visayas
The COVID-19 spread in Central Visayas is very alarming. Out of 100 tests conducted, 18 turned out to be positive, which gives the region a positivity rate of 18.2 percent. The National Capital Region, which used to be the country’s epicenter of the pandemic, has a positivity rate of 7.1 percent only. Cases in Central Visayas double every 6.93 days. The numbers only tell one thing: the disease is devouring the region like a wild hungry beast.
Central Visayas used to have low incidence of the disease in March and April. But in the month of June, the region has surpassed NCR in terms of positivity and case doubling rates. This prompted the President upon IATF’s recommendation to place Cebu City, which experienced the meteoric rise of cases and whose healthcare system is now overwhelmed, back to ECQ status.
What went wrong? The DOH has no clear answers on the alarming numbers. As of the moment, the DOH only said that it has already sent a team, which includes personnel from the Epidemiology Bureau and the National Task Force Covid-19 led by Secretary Carlito Galvez Jr., to Cebu City, the region’s main metropolis, to assess the situation. (manilatimes.net)
Although the Province of Bohol may take exception to the region’s alarming statistics since there are only few locally transmitted cases here, we cannot be complacent of our situation. We have seen that majority of the COVID cases in the province come from hot zones Cebu City and Manila involving the repatriated OFWs and LSIs. And we are now seeing the exodus not by the hundreds but by thousands.
As of now, Bohol is trying hard enough to contain further local transmissions. We are consoled by the fact that the COVID-positive persons here have been isolated and their immediate contacts are already placed under quarantine.
It may be recalled that in the later part of May, the DILG told our LGUs to impose a 14-day quarantine for returning OFWs and LSIs at their respective homes. Our local officials must have a premonition on what is going to happen if these people will be allowed to immediately join with their families upon arrival. They opted to put them in isolation facilities. Although the use of the rapid anti-body test instead of the gold standard RT-PCR test on the returning LSIs may be justified by the tight budget of our LGUs, this practice may possibly be an opportunity for the virus to break free into the community. With all its expertise and training in the healthcare profession, the Bohol Medical Society strongly advises against the use of rapid anti-body test due to its largely misleading results.
While we join the entire region and the country in our prayers for the containment and total elimination of COVID-19, Boholanos must learn from the pitfalls in the fight against the disease in Cebu City and in other parts of the country with alarming numbers. Equally important also is to learn from the best practices in other parts of the country which are similarly situated in Bohol.
God forbids, but the last thing we want to hear is the question: “What went wrong in your own fight against the disease?” We know that this is a collective responsibility of all the Boholanos. While there are others who may have been blessed to contribute financial and other resources to this cause, those who may have less in life should not shy away from our collective fight. There is a single most important contribution that every Boholano can make regardless of status: STAY HOME and OBEY QUARANTINE RULES. The quarantine rules are intended to save lives, not to ruin one.
– By Atty. Greg Borja Austral, CPA