Quezon records 2 more COVID-19 deaths

LUCENA CITY –– Two more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients died in Quezon, bringing the total death toll in the province to 272, health authorities reported on Sunday, March 21.

In its 5 p.m. bulletin, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) disclosed that two confirmed virus carriers in Candelaria and Atimonan towns succumbed to the highly-contagious illness. No details were made available on the latest fatalities.

At least 15 deaths have been recorded this month.

The number of COVID-19 cases has been rising again from 171 on March 1 to 357 on March 21.

Quezon, which is still under modified general community quarantine, has logged 7,669 CCOVID-19 cases since the pandemic was declared in March last year. At least 7,040 have recovered.

From March 1 to 21, a total of 409 new COVID-19 cases have been recorded so far, compared to 342 in February.

Dr. Grace Santiago, IPHO head, said the rising number of new cases was due to transmission among infected family members.

Sariaya, only 11 kilometers away from Quezon capital Lucena City, posted the highest number of active cases among all localities in the province, with 76 as of March 21.

Almost all new patients were from Antipolo village, which is under lockdown status until March 29.

LZB