DUMAGUETE CITY –– More areas in Negros Oriental have been placed under lockdown as the province recorded a spike in active coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases.
From eight last week, the number of active coronavirus infections in Negros Oriental rose to 31 as of Monday, Oct. 19.
Most of the active cases in the province are in Zamboanguita town and Dumaguete City, with 10 and nine patients, respectively.
The cases are mostly local transmissions from contacts of the province’s Patient 191, an authorized person outside of residence with a travel history to Manila, as well as those who came in contact with him and later tested positive.
Other areas with active infections include Bayawan City, Tanjay City, Bacong, Guihulngan City, Sta. Catalina, Sibulan, Mabinay, and La Libertad.
This is so far the biggest spike in local transmissions recorded in the province since the pandemic began.
Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force ground commander Dr. Liland Estacion also said health authorities are investigating the new cases in Bayawan City and Santa Catalina town.
The new patients, a 21-year-old woman from Bayawan City and an 83-year-old man from Sta. Catalina, had no travel history outside the province and no known contact with previous COVID-19 infections.
If authorities couldn’t trace who they got the coronavirus from, the two cases may be declared as community transmissions, Estacion said.
Because of the spike in local transmissions, three areas in the province have been placed on lockdown to curb the further spread of COVID-19.
From Oct. 20 to 28, three villages in Zamboanguita will be placed under modified enhanced community quarantine, including the town proper.
Ten households in the village of Cawitan in Sta. Catalina town have also been placed under granular lockdown effective Monday, Oct. 19.
A portion of a subdivision in the village of Villareal, Bayawan City has also been placed under lockdown. The Department of Education in the city also suspended the distribution and retrieval of self-learning modules as a precaution.
At least 30 households in Dumaguete City have also been placed under quarantine.