Quezon logs 118 new COVID-19 cases, 7 deaths

LUCENA CITY––The COVID-19 cases in Quezon province kept climbing with 118 new carriers, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) reported at 5 p.m. Wednesday.

This city topped the list, with 25 new cases; followed by Sariaya town, 20; and Candelaria town, 15, the IPHO reported in its Aug. 18 bulletin.

At least 1,323 people are still sick with the virus in Quezon, from 705 on July 23. The province remains under general community quarantine with heightened restrictions.

Candelaria has the most active cases with 300, followed by Lucena City with 280.

The IPHO also reported that seven more residents in Quezon died from COVID-19, bringing the death toll in the province to 879 since the pandemic began last year.

Three recent fatalities were female citizens from Candelaria, aged 67, 77, and 79 years old.

Tiaong recorded two deaths, while Atimonan and Catanauan had one each.

On Tuesday, Aug. 17, the IPHO recorded 10 COVID-19 deaths. Five of the fatalities were also from Candelaria and were all senior citizens – a female and four males – aged 67, 78, 83, 88, and 90.

On Aug. 16, 11 more fatalities from COVID-19 were recorded, four of them from Candelaria.

At least 103 of the total death toll in the province, or an average of five fatalities daily, were recorded this month.

Lucena City, the Quezon capital that remains under modified enhanced community quarantine, has the highest number of fatalities at 147, followed by Candelaria with 97.

Last week, the Department of Health revealed that Quezon has seven confirmed Delta variant cases in Dolores (4), Sariaya (2), and Tiaong (1).

Lucban town Mayor Olivier Dator reported on social media that not included in the list was a validated COVID-19 Delta variant case from his town, a 40-year-old seafarer who had a travel history in Indonesia.

He said the Lucban municipal government has been adhering to all safety measures to prevent the spread of the highly transmissible variants of the virus.

Dolores Mayor Orlan Calayag, meanwhile, clarified that one of the reported Delta variant patients from his town was not a resident of their locality but Batangas province.

The three other residents with confirmed Delta variants have recovered, he added.

Health authorities from Tiaong also refuted the DOH report and said the address associated with the Delta variant case in their town was incorrect.

The two Delta variant cases in Sariaya, including a 5-month-old boy with COVID-19 Beta variant, have been declared “clinically recovered,” local authorities said.

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