DUMAGUETE CITY—Negros Oriental is facing yet another surge in COVID-19 infections as active cases in the province rose to 565 on Friday.
In a virtual press conference, Dr. Liland Estacion, incident commander of the Provincial Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), said the province recorded 168 new cases on Friday–the highest number of new infections recorded in the province since the pandemic began.
Most of the new cases were recorded in Dumaguete City with 59, bringing the total number of active cases in the city to 145.
This is the second time since January that Dumaguete City recorded more than a hundred active infections.
Neighboring Sibulan town has the second-highest active case count with 24, followed by Santa Catalina (14), Tanjay City (12), and Bacong town (10).
New cases were also recorded in Amlan, Ayungon, Bais City, Bayawan City, Guihulngan City, Dauin, Jimalalud, Manjuyod, Vallehermoso, Canlaon City, Mabinay, Siaton, Valencia, and Zamboanguita.
Estacion said the new surge can be attributed to local transmissions within households, workplaces, and public places where people converge.
She also reported 68 new recoveries and two new deaths.
Negros Oriental currently has 3,039 COVID-19 cases with 2,391 recoveries and 83 deaths.
Estacion said the province has begun moving forward with its vaccination plan with at least 159 senior citizens and persons with comorbidities vaccinated as of Friday.
She appealed to local governments in the province to speed up their vaccine distribution so that Negros Oriental can continue to receive more batches of fresh COVID-19 vaccines.
Negros Oriental continues to require incoming travelers to secure a negative swab test result before coming to the province. Travelers whose final destination is Dumaguete City must also secure a certificate of acceptance on top of a negative swab test result.