TACLOBAN CITY — The number of COVID-19 in this city has exponentially increased in 12 days.
From just two active cases on Jan. 1, the city has 221 infections as of Jan. 12.
Dr. Gloria Fabrigas, city health officer, said the sudden increase of COVID-19 in the city could be due to gatherings where health protocols were not followed.
She also said that most of these cases involved families.
“Just last night, one family composed of 10 people tested positive,” Fabrigas said.
She added that many of those who turned positive for COVID-19 have a travel history from Metro Manila and outside the country.
Fabrigas urged the public to strictly follow all the health protocols amid the surge of COVID-19 cases in the city.
The Department of Health (DOH) in Eastern Visayas reported 318 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday.
Dr. Marc Steven Capungcol, regional head of the epidemiology and surveillance unit of DOH-Eastern Visayas, said they have sent 86 “qualified samples” to the Philippine Genome Center for sequencing last week.
He said they expected to get the result next week.
The DOH earlier confirmed the presence of variants of concerns in the region.
Capungcol said the sudden increase in COVID-19 cases in the region could be attributed to relaxed protocols and parties during the Christmas season.