SAN ANTONIO, Zambales, Philippines — Climbing infections due in part to variants of the coronavirus disease continue to claim more lives in Central and Northern Luzon.
Ten COVID-19 patients have died in Zambales, raising the province’s death count to 197 on Saturday.
On the same day, 56 new infections brought Zambales’ active cases to 1,010. Since the pandemic broke out last year, the province logged a total of 6,518 COVID-19 cases but most, or 5,611, have already recovered from the disease, said Dr. Noel Bueno, provincial health director.
In the Pampanga city of Angeles, five residents died due to COVID-19 complications as its active cases now stood at 1,527, the city government disclosed on Saturday.
On Saturday, Angeles recorded 82 new infections, raising its total number of COVID-19 patients to 9,914 since March last year. The city lost 410 residents to the virus.
In Ilocos Norte province, 10 patients died on Sept. 4, raising its total number of fatalities to 226 since the pandemic struck last year, according to data from the provincial government.
The province’s average daily attack rate remains the highest among provinces in the Ilocos region at 31.82 per 100,000 population, according to the COVID-19 tracker of the Department of Health.
The province still has 2,820 active infections from the 15,959 cases recorded since last year.
Ailing mayors
In Pangasinan province, two mayors have contracted the virus.
Umingan Mayor Michael Carleone M. Cruz tested positive for the disease and has been quarantined, according to the town’s official Facebook page on Sept. 3.
The eastern Pangasinan town has 67 active cases, 12 of them reported on Sept. 4, bringing the total COVID-19 cases there to 328. The virus has killed 21 residents.
Binmaley Mayor Simplicio Rosario announced on Aug. 30 that he and his wife Lorna Grace have caught COVID-19. The mayor said he was asymptomatic while his wife had mild symptoms.
Binmaley recorded a total of 121 active cases, 48 fatalities and 435 recoveries as of Sept. 4.