ILOILO – After keeping its coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases under control for several months, the province is seeing a spike in infections once again.
The number of COVID-19 cases in the first 25 days of January already topped the total for December last year with five days more to go before this month ends, data from the Provincial Health Office (PHO) showed.
But infections are expected to rise even steeper, warned PHO chief Dr. Ma. Socorro Colmenares-Quiñon.
She cited PHO’s data showing the province with 368 new COVID-19 cases from Jan. 1 to Jan. 25, with 72 cases on Jan. 21 alone.
The daily average, Quiñon said, was pegged at 14.72 cases.
This resulted in Iloilo province overtaking Negros Occidental with the most number of active cases at 303.
Iloilo City was at second with 213 while former pacesetters Negros Occidental and Bacolod City are now third and fourth with 168 and 119, respectively.
Based on PHO’s data, there are already a total of 3,455 COVID-19 cases in the province since early last year, making it fourth in Western Visayas, and with 101 deaths so far.
Why are cases ballooning?
Quiñon attributed the uptick in COVID-19 cases to holiday travel and gatherings.
As anticipated and foreseen by experts, Quiñon said the effects of parties and gatherings during the holiday season resulted to a “real spike” of infections.
The local government units having the most number of infections were Oton (387), Passi City (315), Pavia (291), Pototan (145), Guimbal (142), Santa Barbara (130), Cabatuan (126), San Joaquin (124), and Miag-ao (103).
Meanwhile, the towns with no active COVID-19 case were Barotac Viejo, Janiuay, San Dionisio, Lemery, Carles, Estancia, Anailao, Tubungan, Badiangan, Bingawan, and San Rafael.
Quiñon reiterated the key to stopping or at least slowing down the spread of coronavirus is to practice the “3M strategy” (Mag Maskara, Mag Distancia kag Manghinaw).
“If COVID-19 cases would continue to increase, we might lose everything that we have sacrificed,” the PHO chief lamented.
With COVID-19 vaccines in sight, Quiñon still warned Ilonggos against complacency. She once again urged the public to avoid attending public gatherings like birthdays, wakes and burials, among others, that could lead to more COVID-19 infections.
Earlier this month, the provincial government entered into a tripartite agreement with the national government and British pharmaceutical firm AstraZeneca to procure 271,000 doses of AZD1222 Vaccine.
The frontliners, senior citizens, and those with comorbidities will be the first to be vaccinated./PN
