2 Cebu City Jail Inmates Among 4 Covid-19 Deaths in C. Visayas

Two inmates of the Cebu City Jail male dormitory were among the four deaths due to the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) in Central Visayas, the Department of Health (DOH)-Region 7 reported on Sunday.

In an advisory, Dr. Jaime Bernadas, DOH-Central Visayas regional director, said besides the two inmates, a 35-year old male “who had a recurrent history of electrolyte imbalance” was recorded as the first Covid-19 death on Saturday in the region. All of them are from Cebu City.

The two inmates who died were a 32-year-old male “who was immunocompromised” and a 51-year-old male “who had chronic kidney disease,” Bernadas said.

“The fourth recorded death who was from Cebu province is a 39-year-old male who was hypertensive and had a massive stroke,” he said.

Although the four fatalities were recorded on Saturday, the DOH-7 disclosed it in its advisory on Sunday, as Bernadas earlier said that posting of Covid-19 updates in the region would be delayed for one day to reconcile all reports from the local government units.

With the recent fatalities in Central Visayas, Bernadas said the additional confirmed cases and deaths slightly increased the case fatality rate or the percentage of deaths among those who are infected with Covid-19, from 1.17 percent to 1.36 percent.

Bernadas said as of Saturday, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center (VSMMC) sub-national laboratory has released about 539 test results.

Of the number of tests, 58 turned out positive, of which there were two repeat tests of previously confirmed cases, he said.

The new Covid-19 cases in Central Visayas brought the number of infected individuals to 1,685.

“Although (fatality rate) is still lower compared to the global average of 6.4 percent,” Bernadas said.

A total of 40 new cases are confined at the VSMMC while 15 are isolated in a closed-setting isolation facility at the Cebu TB Reference Laboratory Molecular Facility (CTRL-MFCT) run by DOH-7.

As of Saturday, the DOH-7 has reported no new laboratory negative.

So far, individuals in the region who have recovered from coronavirus are still at 43, with 12 laboratory negative reported on Friday.

Meanwhile, Bernadas said the CTRL-MFCT would resume operations on Monday after it temporarily stopped testing for coronavirus last week. (PNA)