No new COVID-19 cases in Quezon for 6 days

LUCENA CITY — No new cases of confirmed coronavirus disease (COVID-19) have been recorded in Quezon province for the past six days, health authorities disclosed Sunday.

In its 8 a.m. bulletin on May 10, the Quezon Public Information Office (QPIO), citing the latest report from the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), revealed the recorded COVID-19 cases in the province still remain at 72 with no additional case since its May 5 list of 69.

The number of recovered COVID-19 patients jumped to 33 from the May 8 record of only 22, the QPIO report also showed.

With the reported recovery of 33 patients and the death of seven others, the number of active COVID-19 carriers in the province is down to 32. They are all confined in undisclosed hospitals.

Last week, Dr. Grace Santiago, IPHO head, reported that the turn-around of the test results is slow because the Research Institute for Tropical Medicine (RITM) located in Muntinlupa City is the only reference laboratory in the Calabarzon region. The RITM had scaled down its operation last month due to an outbreak of COVID-19 cases among its employees.

To speed up the testing process on suspected coronavirus carriers in Quezon, a “biosafety level 2 plus” (BSL-2+) laboratory would soon be put up in Lucena City and is expected to become operational at the end of the month.

A BSL-2+ laboratory will have the capability to conduct the test on highly contagious COVID-19 virus.

Quezon has 1,295 suspected coronavirus carriers and 32 of them have died, according to the QPIO.

At least 88 suspected carriers are confined in different hospitals and 166 are still under home isolation.

The report also showed that a total of 1,009 suspected virus carriers have already been discharged from hospitals or completed home quarantine.

The QPIO also recorded three “probable” patients. One of them is confined in an undisclosed hospital, while the other two have been discharged and completed home quarantine.

Quezon, considered a high risk or “red” province, is under enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) until May 15.

But according to Interior Secretary Eduardo Año, Quezon is one of the areas in the country that is expected to be placed under “general community quarantine” status once the ECQ ends.