Map of Negros Occidental | INQIRER.net
BACOLOD CITY, Negros Occidental, Philippines — A total of 6,376 people in Negros Occidental were bitten by animals from January to March this year while five others died from rabies.
Dr. Ernell Tumimbang, provincial health officer, considered the figures “alarming.”
He said the rabies cases increased due to a slowdown in the antirabies vaccination of animals at the height of the COVID-19 pandemic.
People bitten by animals who completed their antirabies treatment reached 4,744 while those who had incomplete treatment were 897.
Those who had none were 659, Tumimbang said on Friday. It was possible that those bitten did not seek medical help due to movement restrictions as the province battled a rise in COVID-19 cases early this year.
—CARLA P. GOMEZ
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