LUCENA CITY – The surge of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) cases in Quezon province continues with the addition of 111 confirmed virus carriers, the highest daily tally this year, on Saturday.
Lucena City and Sariaya town topped the list with 25 new COVID-19 cases each, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) reported in its 5 p.m. bulletin on April 10.
In its 10 a.m. report Sunday, April 11, the IPHO recorded 33 new COVID-19 cases, bringing the current number of active cases to 987, which were only 597 on April 1, indicating the continuous transmission of the highly-contagious illness in the province.
On Friday, April 9, Mayor Macario Boongaling of Candelaria town announced on social media that he also tested positive for COVID-19.
The IPHO also reported the death of a confirmed virus carrier, a 79-year-old woman in Catanauan, and another patient in Tiaong.
The COVID-19 death toll in the province is now 318 with 33 fatalities recorded only this month. Lucena, the capital city of the province, has the highest number of fatalities with 72.
Sariaya posted the highest number of active cases in the province with 142, which were only 52 on April 1.
Vice Mayor Alex Tolentino said the local IATF and the association of barangay captains have agreed to impose more restrictions to curb the rise of COVID-19 cases in the locality.
He said one of the focus of restrictions is the public market to ensure that the residents strictly follow the health and safety protocols.
The sub-villages (sitio) with high infection rate will also be placed in total lockdown to prevent the spread of the virus, Tolentino said.
As of April 11, Quezon has logged 8,868 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic was declared in March last year. At least 7,563 have recovered.
On April 6, Governor Danilo Suarez placed 17 municipalities in the province under the stringent general community quarantine (GCQ) status from April 7 to 21 to curb the rise of COVID-19 cases in their respective localities.
“The continuing rise in the number of confirmed cases is alarming and poses an immense threat to the lives and safety of the people,” Suarez said.