March ‘deadly month’ for Covid-19 patients

THE Cebu City Emergency Operations Center (EOC) recorded a total of 64 deaths related to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in the month of March.

In February, the disease claimed the lives of 52 individuals.

Based on the data of the EOC, Cebu City had a total of 827 Covid-19 deaths as of Sunday, April 11, 2021.

According to the same data, the total number of confirmed Covid-19 cases had reached 22,332.

The number of deaths in March this year was 93 percent higher compared to March 2020 in which the city only recorded four Covid-19 deaths.

In the first 10 days of April this year, the EOC recorded 11 deaths.

Cebu City recorded its highest number of mortalities in June last year with 366. In the following month, the city logged 167 deaths.

After July, the number of mortalities continued to drop.

However, Cebu City started to feel the effects of the holidays in December last year and started to log double-digit daily cases last January.

In a previous statement, City Councilor Joel Garganera, EOC deputy chief implementer, said the city recorded more Covid-19 cases in February and March this year compared to June and July in 2020.

“The number of deaths was low despite the increase in cases,” he said in Cebuano.

The EOC recorded 8,317 cases in February and March with a fatality rate of 1.23 percent.

In June and July 2020, it recorded 6,138 cases with a fatality rate of 8.68 percent.

Garganera has been assuring the public that the EOC is in a better position now to respond to the Covid-19 situation.

In an interview on April 11, Garganera believed that what happened last year would not happen again.

“So far, people are very cooperative and certainly achieving a downtrend is something within reach,” he said.

As of April 11, Cebu City logged 20,695 recoveries and 810 active Covid-19 cases. (JJL)