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LUCENA CITY — The Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region recorded on Friday, July 15, a nearly 300 percent rise in the current number of active COVID-19 cases since the start of the month, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
As of 3 p.m. on Friday, the Health Education and Promotion Unit of the DOH–Calabarzon reported that the total number of present active COVID-19 cases in the region jumped to 2,122 which were only 733 on July 1.
Cavite topped the list with 732 current active cases followed by Batangas with 554; Laguna with 462; and Rizal with 310.
Quezon province, including Lucena City, had only 64 active COVID-19 cases in the DOH-Calabarzon latest record due to its early daily update.
The regional health authorities did not provide information on the COVID-19 variants of the present active cases in the region.
The Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF) on Emerging Infectious Diseases has yet to issue the updated status of the COVID-19 alert level system across the country.
Its latest update, announced before President Rodrigo Duterte stepped down from his post, lapsed on Friday.
The IATF placed the Batangas, Cavite, Laguna and Rizal under alert level 1, the most lenient in the five-tier alert status until July 15.
The task force also placed Lucena City, classified as a highly urbanized city in Quezon, and 14 other municipalities in the province under alert level 1.
The rest of Quezon’s 26 localities will remain under alert level 2.
Meanwhile, at least 19 municipalities in Quezon have registered active COVID-19 cases as of Friday, showing the continuous spike of coronavirus infections in the province.
The latest data from the Integrated Provincial Health Office (IPHO) showed that the current 83 active COVID-19 infections in the province were recorded in Sariaya (18 cases), Tiaong (11), Canadelaria (8), Tayabas City (8), Lucena City (7), Lucban (5), Padre Burgos (5), Calauag (4), Pagbilao (3), Atimonan (3), Dolores (2), Guinayangan (2).
The towns of Polilio, Real, Sampaloc, Quezon, Gumaca, Agdangan and Macalelon have one active COVID-19 case each.
On June 3, only Lucena, the capital of Quezon, had active COVID-19 cases with two recorded infected residents then.
On Friday, the IPHO recorded 21 new COVID-19 infections, the highest single-day tally since March.