LUCENA CITY –– The number of active coronavirus disease (COVID-19) cases in Laguna almost doubled in just two weeks.
The Laguna health office reported in its bulletin issued at noon on March 15 that the province has 938 active virus carriers.
The figure indicates that the active cases rose by 442 within 15 days from 496 on March 1.
The records also showed that 24 patients died due to COVID-19 during the same period, bringing the total COVID-19 death toll in the province to 549.
As of March 15, Laguna, which remains under the modified general community quarantine, has logged 21,275 COVID-19 cases, with 19,788 recoveries since the pandemic started last year.
At least 832 new patients were added to the list of confirmed virus patients since March 1 compared to only 376 recoveries in the past 15 days.
Calamba City tops all localities in Laguna with the highest number of recorded cases with 4,746 cases, followed by Santa Rosa City, 3,126.
As of March 15, Calamba also topped the number of active virus carriers with 216, followed by San Pedro City, 110.
Laguna still has 9,209 “suspected” COVID-19 patients and 80 “probable,” according to provincial health authorities.
Of 30 localities in the province, only the town of Kalayaan is considered virus-free as it no longer has any active cases as of March 15
The Department of Health has so far allocated 1,067 doses of Sinovac vaccines for healthcare workers in Laguna. The vaccine rollout in four hospitals in the province started on March 6.