SAN JOSE, Antique – Cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) in Antique are actually on the decline, insisted the province’s health officer.
The province has seen a surge in cases at the start of April, data from the Department of Health – Region 6 showed.
However, Dr. Leoncio Abiera Jr., provincial health officer, played it down and offered an explanation. The “all-time high” recorded COVID-19 cases on April 14 was due to delayed reporting, which he said was also because of the delay in the release of results of reverse transcription polymerase chain reaction tests.
On April 14, Antique recorded 98 new cases, according to the Department of Health- Region 6 — the highest number of cases in a single day recorded in Antique since the coronavirus pandemic exploded in March 2020.
According to Abiera, these were actually cumulative cases for three days. He insisted: “Amat-amat run nagnaba ang community transmission naton, ugaring late lang ang pagsulod…i-distribute naton ang delayed reports that belonged to Day 12, Day 13 and Day 14 naton.”
Abriera expressed confidence that by the end of the month, only “isolated cases” will emerge in the province. The Provincial Health Office is strengthening its containment measures against COVID-19, he said./PN
