FILE PHOTO A laboratory technician gets a swab test in a hospital at Santa Rosa, Laguna province, under a mandatory test program for health workers who have been exposed to coronavirus patients. —EARVIN PERIAS
LUCENA CITY — The Calabarzon (Cavite, Laguna, Batangas, Rizal, Quezon) region recorded 344 new COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, August 10, bringing the number of active infections to 4,111, the Department of Health (DOH) reported.
The current number of active cases in the region is the fifth time that it surpassed the 4,000 mark due to the continuous spread of the coronavirus.
Based on the latest data, Cavite province topped the list with 1,500 active cases, followed by Laguna with 1,214; Batangas, 743; Quezon and Lucena City, 349; and Rizal, 305.
The region listed on Wednesday 615 new recoveries and eight deaths.
The regional health authorities did not provide information on the COVID-19 variants of the present active cases in the region.
Dr. Guido David, an OCTA Research fellow, tagged the positivity rate in Laguna (33.2) as “very high.”
David said the positivity rates in Quezon (25.1), Cavite (21.1), and Rizal (18.8) are also serious concerns.
Positivity rate refers to the percentage of tests that turn out positive for COVID-19. Above 20 percent is considered very high, OCTA said.
OCTA Research explained that the high COVID-19 positivity rate could be partly due to the public’s waning immunity against the viral disease.
As of July 25, the DOH reported that fully vaccinated individuals in the region reached 10,473,312, but only 2,693,629 of them had their first booster shot, while 203,089 already had their second booster.
The DOH-Calabarzon is targeting the vaccination of 13,435,568 qualified recipients in the region.
As of August 10, the Calabarzon region recorded 517,458 COVID-19 cases, 499,708 recoveries, and 13,639 deaths since the pandemic broke out in March 2020.
The first time that the region hit past the 4,000 caseload was last Aug. 5, when the Health Education and Promotion Unit of DOH–Calabarzon listed 4,015 active infections, followed by 4,042 cases on August 6, 4,190 on August 7, and 4,092 on August 8.
On Aug. 9, the total number of active COVID-19 cases dropped to 3,963. It was only 733 on July 1, the DOH Calabarzon data on its Facebook showed.
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