ILOILO City – No new variants of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) have been detected in Western Visayas, according to Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 spokesperson Dr. Mary Jane Juanico.
Juanico made the clarification with the public – even local officials – speculating there could already be new variants causing the sudden surge in cases in several of the region.
Western Visayas COVID-19 laboratories had sent 47 specimen samples to the Philippine Genome Center for genome sequencing.
Genome sequencing is a technique that allows researchers to decipher the genetic information found in the DNA and will provide scientific proof whether new COVID variants are now in the region.
Juanico said two Western Visayan overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) tested positive for new variants but these were detected while they were still in Manila.
These OFWs underwent quarantine while in Manila and already have negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test result before they were allowed to return to the region, Juanico stressed.
“As of now wala pa kita evidence that new variants have hit Region 6, particularly Bacolod City and Negros Occidental,” said Juanico.
257 COVID CASES DAILY
DOH-6 data showed the region recording an average of 257 daily cases this April – three times higher than the 84 daily average cases recorded in March.
As of April 18, Western Visayas had 32,153 total (cumulative) cases of COVID-19 – 813.60 percent or 4,374 were active, 2.58 percent or 829 were deaths and 83.80 percent or 26,943 were recoveries.
Juanico said Negros Occidental is now considered a “high risk” area for COVID-19 while Antique, Capiz, Iloilo City, and Bacolod City are deemed of “moderate risk”.
However, infections may continue to rise at a faster rate and may still peak perhaps by the mid to third week of April, she warned.
Juanico also reported that the number of COVID-19 cases in the provinces of Aklan, Antique, Capiz, and Guimaras recorded this year already surpassed the cases recorded for the whole of 2020.
Of the 4,374 total active cases in the region, almost half or 2,053 came from Negros Occidental, 668 from Bacolod City, 567 from Antique, 396 from Iloilo province, 309 from Iloilo City, 208 from Aklan, 160 from Capiz, and 13 from Guimaras.
“Recently nagpakita sang senyales sang pagsaka sang kaso ang probinsya sang Capiz…ang mga kaso nila mga symptomatic and even mga severe cases,” Juanico noted.
Cases in the provinces of Iloilo and Negros Occidental, meanwhile, are also on the rise.
“Ang sa Bacolod naton, although wala pa naton nakita ang paglagpas sang peak niya compared to last year’s cases, makita naton nga nagapasaka man ang number and without intervention, these might further increase,” Juanico explained.
Of the eight provinces and highly urbanized cities in Western Visayas, Juanico noted, only Iloilo City has maintained/sustained its number of cases “at the minimum level”./PN
