LUCENA CITY –– Quezon province recorded 845 coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in December, a figure significantly lower than November’s 1,612 cases, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) said in its 5 p.m. report on Dec. 31.
In October, the province recorded 1,717 cases; September – 874, and August – 703.
The COVID-19 death toll in Quezon rose to 188, and at least 25 of them died last month.
The number of active COVID-19 cases in the province continued to drop as the remaining virus carriers in the province declined to 267 at the end of December.
The province’s highest tally on active COVID-19 cases was 1,119 on Nov. 12. It fell to 760 by the end of November.
Quezon recorded 6,215 COVID-19 cases since the World Health Organization declared the pandemic in March. At least 5,760 of them had recuperated.
At the end of December, at least 17 towns of the 41 municipalities in the province no longer have any recorded COVID-19 cases, the IPHO report shows.
The areas now considered COVID-19-free are the island towns of Alabat, Quezon, Perez, Jomalig, Panukulan, Patnanungan, Burdeos, and the municipalities of San Andres, San Narciso, San Francisco, Pitogo, Macalelon, Mulanay, Agdangan, General Nakar, Padre Burgos and Atimonan.
Those previously infected in these municipalities have either recovered or died, the record shows.
Lucena City, the provincial capital, also recorded a sharp drop in the number of COVID-19 cases last month, with 139 infections compared to 319 in November.
As of Dec. 31, the city has 47 active virus carriers. The highest daily tally in the city was 279 on Oct. 21. It fell to 147 on Nov. 30.
The COVID-19 fatalities in the city still stand at 46.