5 COVID-19 patients die in Quezon province amid spike of new cases

LUCENA CITY –– Five more coronavirus disease (COVID-19) patients in Quezon have died, bringing the total provincial death toll to 296, authorities said on Sunday, April 4.

The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), in its 5 p.m. bulletin Sunday., reported that the new fatalities were from the towns of Sariaya, Real, and Quezon, with one fatality each, and Infanta town, with two deaths.

Of the 296 fatalities, at least 11 were recorded in the first four days of April.

The IPHO also reported 75 newly validated virus carriers on April 4, bringing the present total active COVID-19 cases in the province to 706 from only 597 on April 1.

Infanta town topped the list among 41 localities in the province with the highest number of active cases of 95, followed by Sariaya, 76, and Lucena City, the provincial capital, 66.

Quezon, which is still under modified general community quarantine, logged 8,336 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic was declared in March last year. A total of 7,334 have recovered.

From April 1 to 4, a total of 192 cases were recorded, indicating a renewed surge of virus cases in the province. From March 1 to 31, a total of 825 COVID-19 patients came forward, compared to only 342 in February.

The IPHO has yet to receive official reports from the Department of Health that the new cases contracted the highly contagious UK variant.

Dr. Grace Santiago, IPHO head, maintained that the rising number of new cases could be partly linked to the public’s disregard of health and safety protocols.

LZB