CEBU CITY –– At least 73 more individuals tested positive for the coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in Cebu, bringing the total number of cases to 595.
One of those recently infected by the virus is a 35-year-old resident of Bantayan town, Bantayan Island.
In its daily report, the Department of Health in Central Visayas (DOH-7) said the patient from Bantayan was admitted at the Vicente Sotto Memorial Medical Center in Cebu City.
The Municipality of Bantayan, on its Facebook page, said they were conducting contact tracing and simultaneous containment protocols to determine the extent of the infection.
Cebu Gov. Gwendolyn Garcia had called for a meeting with all the municipal and city health officers following the two new cases in Cebu province for two consecutive days.
The governor wants faster reporting of patients exhibiting symptoms and are deemed possible COVID-19 cases.
Bantayan town is one of the three towns in Bantayan Island off mainland Cebu.
It is about 140 kilometers away from the densely populated urban centers, where most of the coronavirus cases are found.
The bulk of the new cases, however, still came from Cebu City, which registered 72 new infections.
One case was also added to Mandaue City, which now has 12 infections.
According to the Cebu City Health Department, 68 of the 72 new cases in Cebu City are in Sitio Callejon in Barangay Labangon, while another case was also detected in another area in the same barangay.
Labangon now has 124 cases and is the second barangay in Cebu City where COVID-19 cases are rising.
Barangay Luz, on the other hand, has 162 cases affecting three sitios.
The other new cases in Cebu City are in Sitio Oppra in Barangay Kalunasan, Sitio Alaska in Barangay Mambaling, and that of another Cebu City resident whose address is still being verified.