Iloilo City sees new spike in COVID cases

FIGHTING VIRUS | Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas (second from left) leads the inauguration of the Iloilo City Uswag Molecular Laboratory at Barangay San Pedro in Molo district on Oct. 14. The laboratory is expected to boost the city’s testing capacity amid an increase in the number of local cases of COVID-19. (Photo from the Iloilo City Mayor’s Office)

ILOILO CITY, Iloilo, Philippines — Cases of COVID-19 have increased here in the past two weeks, according to the Iloilo City Health Office (ICHO).

But Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, the official in charge of the city’s COVID-19 response and medical officer of ICHO, was quick to allay fears that the number of coronavirus cases would get out of hand.

Fortuna said the increase might just be due to the number of people who had themselves tested either as a requirement for employment or for personal reasons.

“Our testing in the COVID-19 laboratory [in Molo district] hasn’t gone down. That’s why we get a lot of positive results,” he told reporters here this week.

The city recorded 461 new COVID-19 cases from Oct. 1 to Oct. 16, or an average of 29 cases a day. This was higher than the 302 cases, an average of 11 cases a day, in September.

The city’s average daily attack rate (ADAR), or the average number of new cases per day per 100,000 people in an area, is at 5.87 as of Oct. 16, higher than the 1.72 recorded on Oct. 1.

Mayor’s order

According to the Department of Health, an area will be classified as a moderate risk if it has a positive two-week growth rate and Adar of at least six average cases per day per 100,000 population.

“Over the past few months, the number of cases was low. It’s only now that we noticed an increase in the number of cases. But it’s manageable (at this point),” Fortuna said.

Fortuna said Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas on Monday issued Executive Order No. 085, allowing only fully vaccinated or partially vaccinated individuals to visit the tombs of their relatives in private and public cemeteries and memorial parks to mark All Saints’ Day and All Souls’ Day.

Partially vaccinated persons, Fortuna said, are those who already received their first dose recently and were waiting to get their second dose within the 14-day window.

The mayor’s order, Fortuna added, is meant to prevent the further spread of infection.

He reminded people in Iloilo City to continue observing health protocols.

“As long as we follow social distancing rules, and as long as people wear masks, although there is an executive order that mask-wearing is optional in noncrowded areas, we have an added protection against the virus,” Fortuna said.

“We have to understand that we have to observe and follow public health protocols. If many people wear masks, then we wouldn’t have this many COVID cases,” he added.

Fortuna said people have a “social responsibility” to stop the spread of the virus by doing simple things like washing and sanitizing their hands more often.

He also encouraged people to get vaccinated against COVID-19 and to avail of the booster shots available at district health centers.

Iloilo City recorded 235 active COVID-19 cases as of Oct. 16. Since the pandemic was declared, the city posted a total of 35,207 cases, with 34,272 recoveries and 607 deaths, according to the ICHO.

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