93% of COVID-19 deaths in Dumaguete since May were unvaccinated

Out of the 79 people who died in Dumaguete City due to COVID-19 from May 1 to October 21, 74 were unvaccinated, according to City Health Officer Maria Sarah Talla. 

Of the five who died and were vaccinated, most were senior citizens and had comorbidities, Talla said in her report to the City Interagency Task Force (IATF) for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases.

This, as the city and the province of Negros Oriental continue to face challenges in vaccinating its population amid a surge in COVID-19 cases. 

More than five months since the vaccination rollout started in Dumaguete City on May 1, 35,448 residents have been fully vaccinated, or 26.4% of its total population of 134,103 as of October 22. Meanwhile, 43,621 residents received at least one dose of the COVID-19 vaccine, or 32.5% of the total population.

Dumaguete City has started inoculating the rest of its adult population ages 18 and above last Friday, October 22. However, walk-ins are still discouraged, and interested residents should register through the online portal.

The city had 207 active COVID-19 cases as of Friday, according to the city IATF’s report.

The province of Negros Oriental, classified recently under Alert Level 4, lags in its vaccination drive compared to neighboring provinces in Central Visayas.

As of Tuesday, October 19, 157,641 residents have been fully vaccinated, or just 11% of the province’s total population of 1,432,990 as of 2020. 

In contrast, Bohol had fully vaccinated 209,214 people or 15% of its total 2020 population of 1,394,329; Cebu province and the cities of Cebu, Lapu-Lapu, and Mandaue at 989,756 or 19.2% of the island’s combined population of 5,151,274; and Siquijor at 40,853 or 39.5% of its total population of 103,395, as of the Department of Health (DOH) regional office’s October 17 report. At the time, Negros Oriental had fully vaccinated 145,334, or 10.1% of its total population.    

Among Central Visayas’s four provinces, Negros Oriental also has the biggest percentage of unused doses in its vaccine allocation at 48.8% as of Thursday, October 21. In comparison, Bohol still has 45.6% of its vaccine allocation left, Cebu province at 36.3%, and Siquijor at 31%.  

As of Tuesday, the province’s overall COVID-19 isolation bed occupancy rate was at 99%. All hospitals in Dumaguete City, which also cater to COVID-19 patients from other areas of the province, were at critical to beyond full capacity: Negros Oriental Provincial Hospital (NOPH) at 113%, Silliman University Medical Center at 98%, Holy Child Hospital at 100%, and ACE Dumaguete Doctors at 113%. 

On Wednesday, October 20, Vice Governor Mark Macias posted on Facebook photos of COVID-19 patients stationed in tents at the parking lot of the NOPH. 

“Ang bag-o nga COVID facility na funded sa Sangguniang Panlalawigan, puno na. Ang karaan na building na gigamit para sa COVID patients, puno na pud. Mao nang ang ubang mga COVID na pasyente naa na lang sa mga tent sa parking lot. Pipila sa mga doktor ug mga nars sa NOPH ni positive sa COVID ug gi-isolate,” Macias wrote on Facebook. 

(The new COVID facility funded by the Sangguniang Panlalawigan is full. The old building used for COVID patients is filled as well. This is why some COVID patients are in tents at the parking lot. Some doctors and nurses at NOPH are COVID positive and are isolating.)

Negros Oriental logged 175 new cases of COVID-19 on Saturday, October 23, bringing the total number of active cases in the province to 3,089 – the highest in the region, according to the DOH regional office. – Rappler.com