COVID-19 cases in Ilocos continue to drop

A healthcare worker facilitates the COVID-19 testing in Vigan City, Ilocos Sur. | PHOTO: Vigan city government

LAOAG CITY, Ilocos Norte—The Department of Health (DOH) in Ilocos reported a significant drop in the average daily COVID-19 cases in the region to just seven per day from 960 during the peak of the Omicron variant in January.

Dr. Rheuel Bobis, DOH COVID-19 focal person in the region, said during a press briefing on Wednesday, March 9, that the provinces were experiencing a downward trend in case numbers.

He said despite the surge in COVID-19 cases because of Omicron, the number of deaths did not spike at the same rate as that in January, largely because of the wide vaccination coverage.

The region’s positivity rate also fell to just 2 percent on Tuesday compared with that during the Omicron surge in January, which reached 54.5 percent, according to Bobis.

This meant that out of 100 specimens tested for COVID-19, only two yielded positive results, he said.

Bobis mentioned that their latest monitoring showed that the Delta remained the most dominant in the region at 47 percent of the 830 total variant cases. Omicron came second as the most dominant at 30 percent.

The dwindling number of cases was due largely to the effective implementation by local governments of granular lockdowns or zoning containment strategies, he said.

Bobis said the region has also been aggressive in conducting vaccination drives.

The latest DOH data showed that 78 percent of the target population in the region had been fully vaccinated against the disease.

lzb