Eastern Visayas as 27 new cases of COVID-19, all of them coming from Manila

TACLOBAN CITY –– The Department of Health (DOH) has reported 27 new cases of the coronavirus disease in Eastern Visayas, increasing the region’s total number of infections to 848.

All 27 new COVID-19 cases in the region involve locally stranded individuals (LSIs).

On Tuesday, 604 LSIs from Metro Manila arrived in their respective hometowns in the region.

Leyte had the biggest number of returnees at 288, followed by Eastern Samar, 93; Samar, 91; Northern Samar, 81; Southern Leyte, 46; and Biliran, 5.

In Northern Samar, the provincial government has converted the gymnasium of the University of Eastern Philippines located in Catarman town into a quarantine facility for returning LSIs where they would stay for 14 days as part of the health protocols.

The municipalities of Lope de Vega, Lavezares, Gamay, and Capul had requested Northern Samar Gov. Edwin Ongchuan to have their LSIs stay at the provincial-made quarantine facility as they had already reached their maximum capacity.

“These towns have already maximized their isolation units while others are on its 80 percent utilization rate already. I hope that the national government will listen to our plea,” Rei Josiah Echano, provincial disaster risk reduction management officer, said.

The return of these LSIs in the region was part of the “Hatid Tulong” program of the national government.

Of the new 27 COVID-19 cases in Eastern Visayas, 23 are from Samar while four are from Southern Leyte.

In Samar, the town of Paranas has the highest number of new COVID-19 cases with 14, followed by the municipalities of Motiong (5); Basey, (2); and San Sebastian and Catbalogan City with one each.

In Southern Leyte, Maasin City has two new cases while the towns of Sogod and Malitbog have one case each.