DOH names 6 ‘emerging COVID-19 hotspots’ in Visayas

MANILA, Philippines — The Department of Health (DOH) is monitoring the situation in several provinces and cities in the Visayas due to rising coronavirus infections there.

According to Health Undersecretary Maria Rosario Vergeire, the following areas are identified as “emerging hotspots” for COVID-19 infection:

– Cebu City

– Cebu province

– Ormoc City

– Southern Leyte

– Leyte

– Samar

“Hindi pa po ganun karami ang mga kaso sa nasabing lugar ngunit nakikita na po natin na mas mabilis na tumataas kumpara po sa ibang mga lugar,” Vergeire said in a televised press briefing Wednesday.

(The confirmed COVID-19 cases in these areas are not that high but we are seeing a faster increase compared to other areas.)

Vergeire said this prompted the government to take steps to curtail the further spread of the respiratory illness in the said areas.

“Tayo ay nagpadala ng mga kagamitan to ramp up the testing capacity of Cebu province and required the strict implementation of the public health standards with the help of the local government and the National Task Force (against COVID-19) in this emerging hotspots,” she said.

(We have deployed equipment to ramp up the testing capacity of Cebu province and required the strict implementation of the public health standards with the help of the local government and the National Task Force [against COVID-19] in this emerging hotspots.)

On Wednesday, DOH reported 470 new COVID-19 infections, bringing the nationwide tally to 32,295.

Nearly half or 225 of the latest cases came from Metro Manila, the country’s contagion epicenter; 145 were recorded in Central Visayas where Cebu City and Cebu province are located, while the remaining 100 came from other regions nationwide.

KGA