LUCENA CITY––The surge in COVID-19 cases in Quezon continues as health authorities recorded 134 new patients on Monday, the province’s highest single-day tally since the pandemic began in March last year.
The Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) in its 5 p.m. bulletin issued on Aug. 16 showed that Candelaria town posted the highest, with 38 new cases, followed by Lucena City with 18, and Lucban, 17.
The death toll rose to 862 after the IPHO recorded 11 fatalities from COVID-19.
Four fatalities each were recorded in Candelaria and Lucban, two in Lucena and one in Tagkawayan.
Quezon, which remains under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions until Aug. 31, has been recording an upward trend in active COVID-19 cases.
As of Aug. 16, there were 1,259 active cases, from 705 on July 23. At least 313 of them are in Candelaria town.
Lucena City, the provincial capital, has 246 active cases as of Aug. 16.
Candelaria, however, has no recorded COVID-19 Delta variant case as
of Aug. 16.
On Friday, the Department of Health revealed that Quezon has seven confirmed Delta variant cases in Dolores (4), Sariaya (2), and Tiaong (1).
Three of the patients with Delta variant in Dolores have recovered, the Quezon public information office said. Dolores Mayor Orlan Calayag clarified that one of the reported Delta variant cases is not a resident of their locality but Batangas province.
Health authorities from Tiaong also refuted the report that the town has two confirmed Delta variant cases. In a public notice on social media, the Tiaong health office said the address associated with the case was incorrect.
More than 296,000 residents in Quezon province have been vaccinated against COVID-19.
Data from the IPHO said 75,922 residents received their second dose of the vaccine as of Aug. 14. At least 220,753 were injected with the first dose.
The total vaccine recipients are almost 20 percent of at least 1,485,981 residents targeted to achieve herd immunity.
Quezon has a population of 2,122,830, according to the 2015 census.