LUCENA CITY –– The number of active coronavirus disease (COVID-19) infections in Quezon hit the thousand mark again on Friday as the rise in the number of cases in the province continues.
The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO), in its 10 a.m. bulletin, reported that the province now has 1,021 active virus carriers scattered in 38 municipalities.
On April 1, there were only 597 active cases in the province.
The last time the province registered over a thousand active cases was Nov. 12 last year, with 1,119 infections.
Lucena, the provincial capital, is back on top of the list with 113 active virus carriers. On March 7, the total active cases in the city dropped to only seven. The highest daily tally was 279 on Oct. 21.
Lucena Mayor Roderick Alcala has appealed to city residents to follow the health and safety protocols and obey the village marshals who are enforcing them.
“They aim to prevent the rise of more virus carriers in the city,” Alcala said in a video message.
Of 41 municipalities in Quezon, only Buenavista, General Luna, and Unisan have no active cases as of April 16.
Those previously infected in these localities have either recovered or had died, the report showed.
The COVID-19 death toll in the province is now 342, with the deaths of two validated virus carriers in Infanta and Pitogo on April 16.
On April 15, the IPHO also reported four more COVID-19 patients in Lucena City, San Antonio, San Francisco, and Sariaya towns succumbing to the highly contagious illness.
The IPHO records showed that 57 COVID-19 patients had died this April. Last month, the province recorded only 28 fatalities.
Quezon, which is now under the general community quarantine (GCQ) until April 30, has recorded 9,297 COVID-19 cases and 7,934 recoveries since March last year.
From April 1 to 16, a total of 1,153 new COVID-19 cases were recorded, exceeding the 825 cases in March. In February, only 342 patients were listed.
To curb the rise in new virus carriers in the province, Gov. Danilo Suarez issued Executive Order No. 18 on April 11 that spelled out the strict measures while Quezon is under GCQ, including imposing a curfew from 8 p.m.-to-4 a.m.
Suarez cautioned law enforcement authorities to be “fair and humane” in handling curfew and protocol violators.
The order stated that violators would only have to pay cash fines, render community service, or face imprisonment of not less than 15 days at the court discretion. INQ
LZB