LUCENA CITY – Quezon province recorded nine new COVID-19 cases on the first day of the year which brought its record of active infections to 32, health authorities reported.
The town of Sariaya listed five new COVID-19 patients and one each in Lucena City, Lucban, Candelaria and Tagkayawan towns, the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) disclosed in its 5 p.m. bulletin on Saturday.
The tally for the day listed no recovery and fatality.
The COVID-19 death toll in Quezon since March last year stood at 1,480, with Lucena recording the most at 223.
The latest data of COVID-19 cases in the province indicates a steady increase as a possible result of increased holiday mobility.
On December 22, the IPHO listed only nine active COVID-19 cases, the lowest single-day tally in recent months of 2021.
From December 22 to 27, at least 35 of the 41 local governments in the province no longer have COVID-19 patients.
But on January 1, the number of COVID-19 free localities was down to 28.
The data showed that the towns of Lopez, Buenavista, Calauag, Tagkawayan, San Antonio, Infanta, Patnanungan and Polillo have one active case each; Tayabas City and Candelaria, two each; Lucena City and Lucban, with four each.
Sariaya town still topped the list with 12 active COVID-19 infections.
Last month, the province logged 64 new COVID-19 patients, from 211 in November, 2,115 in October, and 5,342 in September.
The IPHO recorded zero COVID-19 cases on December 1, 11, 12, 15, 25, 26, and 27.
Quezon recorded 27,859 COVID-19 cases since the pandemic struck in 2020, with 26,347 recoveries.
Quezon province and Lucena City will remain under Alert Level 2 until January 15, 2022