Cagayan de Oro sees drop in COVID-19 cases on feast day

Cagayan de Oro saw its first drop in single-day COVID-19 cases in two months on August 28, which is also the feast day of Saint Augustine.

Officials recorded 70 new infections, significantly lower than the daily average of over 300 cases in July and early August.

The Philippine government extended Cagayan de Oro's modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) classification until September 7, allowing partial reopening of businesses like hotels and malls.

Octa Research noted a decrease in COVID-19 transmission from 1.38% to 1.15% over the past week, predicting that new cases could start decreasing within one or two weeks if trends continue.

Despite this positive development, Octa warned that hospital bed and ICU occupancy rates remain at critical levels due to a high average daily attack rate.