COVID-19 death toll in Quezon hits 840

LUCENA CITY – The COVID-19 death toll in Quezon province has risen to 840 as of Friday, August 13 after an 89-year-old woman and two others died from the viral disease in Candelaria town, local authorities reported.

The local government of Candelaria on Friday said that the senior citizen from Barangay Pahinga Norte and two other female residents, aged 55 and 42, succumbed to COVID-19.

Candelaria, located in the province’s 2nd district, has logged 268 COVID-19 cases since the start of August compared to Lucena City, the province capital, which logged 172 cases.

The town topped the present list among the 39 municipalities and two cities in the province with the most active cases at 289 followed by Lucena City with 228.

Candelaria, however, has no recorded COVID-19 Delta variant case as of August 13.

On Friday, the DOH revealed that Quezon has seven confirmed Delta variant cases scattered in the towns of Dolores (4), Sariaya (2), and Tiaong (1).

At least three of the patients with Delta variant in Dolores have since recovered, the Quezon public information office (PIO) said.

Quezon, which remains under the general community quarantine with heightened restrictions until August 31, has been recording an upward trend of COVID active cases.

From only 705 active infections on July 23, it is now up to 1,140, as of Aug. 13, at least 25 percent of them in Candelaria.

Governor Danilo Suarez said the mayors of Sariaya, Candelaria, Tiaong, Dolores and San Antonio, were requesting that their towns be placed under modified enhanced community quarantine (MECQ) like Lucena City amid the threat of the Delta variant.

As of August 13, Quezon recorded 18,009 COVID-19 cases, with 16,029 recoveries since the pandemic struck in March last year.

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