16 villages in Pampanga’s capital now free of COVID-19

A city health office employee conducts a pre-vaccination interview at the City College of San Fernando in Pampanga. (Photo from the City of San Fernando government)

MABALACAT CITY, Pampanga––Sixteen of the 35 villages in the capital city of San Fernando are now free of COVID-19 as infections continue to drop in Pampanga, the city government disclosed on Wednesday, Nov. 17.

In a statement, Dr. Carlos Mercado, officer-in-charge of San Fernando’s health office, identified the COVID-free villages as Baliti, Del Pilar, Del Rosario, Dela Paz Norte, Lourdes, Magliman, Maimpis, Pandaras, Panipuan, Pulung Bulu, Quebiawan, San Felipe, San Isidro, San Juan, Sta. Teresita, and Sto. Rosario.

“Generally, COVID-19 cases in the city continue to decline. We used to have double-digit daily cases, but now only five to six new cases daily have been recorded for the past two weeks,” he said.

As of Wednesday, the active cases in San Fernando stood at 55 or lower than the 605 active cases a month ago.

Mercado attributed the significant decline in COVID-19 cases to the city’s vaccination drive.

“Vaccination truly helped lower the cases in San Fernando. People get immunity from the vaccines, and vaccines really work,” he said as he urged their remaining eligible population to get jabbed against the viral disease.

As of Nov. 12, the city health office had fully vaccinated 142,299 individuals or 61.7 percent of the total eligible population, while 191,182 or 78.97 percent have received the first dose of the COVID-19 vaccines.

Mercado appealed to parents not to bring their children to areas with enclosed spaces like malls and make sure to wear face masks all the time while in public places like parks.

On Wednesday, the capital city registered five new COVID-19 cases, five recoveries, and no deaths.

Since the pandemic began last year, it recorded 11,263 COVID-19 cases, of which 10,884 have recovered while 324 died.

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