No Covid surge in province – PHO

There is no surge in COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental even as active cases reached 140 as of August 4, Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, said today.

Dr. Tumimbang said there are many indicators to say that there is an increase in COVID-19.

While he admitted that there is a double digit increase in cases, “it is still not a surge.”

Tumimbang said that one factor that should be looked at amid the continuous increase of COVID-19 cases is hospital bed utilization rate.

If that goes up it means that many patients are admitted in hospitals because they have severe cases, he pointed out.

Currently, these active cases are under home quarantine because they are vaccinated, he said.

“They are reported because they were monitored by our surveillance unit,” he said.

Tumimbang added that they are screening hospital admissions through rapid antigen tests if the patient is already vaccinated.

However, he said if a patient is unvaccinated he will have to undergo an RT- PCR test before he can be admitted.

Low Booster Shot Rates

Meanwhile, Tumimbang said booster shot rates are still low in Negros Occidental.

He cited that the public is already confident after getting two primary COVID-19 vaccination and businesses are also opening up.

There is a need to ramp up the advocacy that there is still a need to get booster shots even if the province is already under Alert Level 2, Tumimbang said.* (EYA)