Active COVID-19 cases in Quezon hit 1,000 mark

LUCENA CITY –– The alarming surge in the number of active COVID-19 cases in Quezon continues amid the reported entry of highly contagious variants in the province.

The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) reported at 5 p.m. on May 9 that the number of active cases hit the thousand mark again with 1,035.

On March 6, it dropped to 126, the lowest daily in its twice-a-day count after it peaked to 1,119 on Nov. 12 last year.

Of 41 municipalities in Quezon, only Padre Burgos and the island town of Patnanungan have no active cases as of May 9.

Those previously infected in these localities have either recovered or died, the report showed.

On May 5, the IPHO, citing belated information from the Department of Health, reported that Lucban town had two COVID-19 patients with the United Kingdom (UK) and South Africa variants.

Candelaria town has one UK variant case, IPHO added.

Further verifications of COVID-19 variants in the province are ongoing.

The continuous spike of new virus carriers left six more fatalities on Sunday, bringing the death toll in the province to 436.

As of May 5, IPHO records showed that at least 21,856 persons in the province received Sinovac and AstraZeneca jabs, 19,406 with the first dose and 2,450 with the second dose.

Dr. Grace Santiago, IPHO chief, said the vaccination program aims to inoculate 1.7 million residents in the province.

Santiago absolved the provincial government from the low vaccination rate.

Santiago said the national government has also been having problems securing the vaccines from foreign sources.

On May 6, Gov. Danilo Suarez contracted the highly contagious illness. The next day, his wife, Rep. Aleta Suarez, and Roberto Gajo, the provincial administrator and agriculturist also tested positive for COVID-19. All of them are in stable condition.

LZB