In Central Visayas, the Department of Health (DOH-7) reported a total of 93 injuries related to fireworks from December 21, 2024, to January 2, 2025. The data, released on Thursday, showed that 19 of these incidents occurred following New Year’s celebrations, gathered from 34 hospitals in the region, which included two sentinel and 32 non-sentinel facilities. This number significantly exceeds the 14 cases reported by the Police Regional Office-7 (PRO-7) over the same timeframe. Additionally, DOH-7 noted one injury caused by a stray bullet, whereas PRO-7 reported two instances of indiscriminate firing. Lt. Col. Janette Rafter, the spokesperson for PRO-7, mentioned that seven of the firecracker injuries they documented were severe. Tragically, two deaths were confirmed: a 23-year-old vlogger from Asturias, Cebu, and a 10-year-old boy from Talisay City. Despite these incidents, Lt. Col. Rafter described the region as generally peaceful during the holiday festivities. In a related note, the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center, the region’s pilot sentinel hospital, reported 133 cases of road traffic injuries during the same period.
