CEBU CITY, Philippines – A week after being named among emerging coronavirus hot spots, Cebu province breached 1,000 coronavirus cases, according to data released Sunday evening, June 28, by the Department of Health (DOH) regional office in Central Visayas.

There were 103 new coronavirus cases reported on Sunday, pushing the total to 1,054. At least 783 infections are active, while 203 have recovered and 68 have died of complications from the virus.

Cebu province includes 44 municipalities and 6 component cities.

Mandaue City is part of Cebu province, but reports its cases separately. As of Sunday, there are 748 cases in Mandaue City.

Cases in the province accelerated in the month of June.

A little over a month ago, on May 23, Cebu province had only 102 cases, according to DOH Central Visayas.

During the last week of May, the province’s totals were not reported.

DOH Central Visayas started reporting the per province and city breakdown again only last June 22.

Cebu City, which is independent of the province, currently has the highest number of coronavirus cases at 4,962, as of Sunday.

The DOH reported last Friday, June 26, that Cebu island – including the province and independent cities – had a coronavirus positivity rate of 32.8%, the highest in the Philippines, between June 16 and 24. (READ: Cebu’s coronavirus positivity rate highest in the country, says DOH)

This means 33 of every 100 patients tested positive for the coronavirus.

In contrast, Metro Manila had a 7.2% positivity rate for the same period.

The total number of coronavirus cases nationwide reached 35,455 on Sunday, with 1,244 deaths and 9,686 recoveries. – Rappler.com