LUCENA CITY –– Five senior citizens and two children were among the new coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in San Pablo City in Laguna province, health authorities said.
At least 14 virus carriers were recorded, bringing the present active cases to 155, the San Pablo City Anti-COVID-19 Task Force said Monday.
The new COVID-19 patients include five elderlies, the eldest being 71 years old, and two young patients – a year-old boy and a 3-year-old girl.
In his video message Monday, Mayor Lorenzo Amante expressed alarm at the rising number of virus carriers in the city.
He said the new cases also included some local medical frontliners, but he did not give any more details.
The infection among health workers has prompted the San Pablo City General Hospital to temporarily close its emergency room, Amante said.
Amante lamented the spike in the cases despite the strict implementation by the local government of safety protocols.
“It only means that the threat of the pandemic is real and serious,” he said.
He announced that next week, at least 80 to 90 percent of local health workers would have already received their first dose of the COVID-19 vaccine.
Amante also warned those who have been spreading fake news on the local COVID-19 situation that they would be arrested.
He urged residents to observe and follow all safety protocols and tasked barangay officials and other concerned authorities to apprehend violators.
San Pablo, which is now under general community quarantine as part of Laguna province, has logged 1,452 COVID-19 cases and 1,251 recoveries since the pandemic was declared in March last year. The death toll in the city stands at 46.