LUCENA CITY – Another coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patient in this city has died, bringing the city’s total death toll to 67.
The Lucena public information office reported on Friday, March 19 that a confirmed virus carrier from Barangay Ibabang Dupay succumbed to the dreaded illness.
No other details were provided on the fatality, the second in the city this month.
Meanwhile, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) in its latest bulletin on Saturday, March 20 at 10 a.m. reported that since March 1, a total of 378 new COVID-19 cases were recorded in Quezon. In February, 342 new cases were listed.
Of the new cases, 347 are active.
According to Dr. Grace Santiago, IPHO head, the rising new cases were caused by transmission among infected family members.
“Most of them are symptomatic. They are relatives, getting infected by each other,” Santiago said Thursday, March 18.
Santiago also disclosed that they have been monitoring an increase in reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) tests in the province.
A household transmission happens when a family member who has worked outside the house got the virus, a COVID-19 contact tracer from this city explained.
“Even though the person has been showing COVID-19 symptoms, the family is in the denial stage. They all brush the signs aside as just an ordinary sickness because of the stigma associated with the virus carrier,” said the contact tracer, who requested anonymity, as they were not allowed to disclose information on their work.
“Until it’s too late. The whole family has already shown symptoms and eventually also got infected,” the informant added.
Quezon, which is still under a modified general community quarantine, logged 7,638 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic was declared in March last year. A total of 7,021 have recovered while 270 died.
The Department of Health allocated 1,686 doses of the Sinovac vaccine, so far, for medical and health workers in Quezon province. The vaccination roll-out started on March 11.