BY: LIZBETH ANN A. ABELLA, RONALD O. REYES
TACLOBAN CITY-Eastern Visayas has posted one of its biggest increase in a single day of coronavirus disease 2019(COVID-19) with 57 new cases.
This now brings the region’s total COVID-19 cases to 920.
Based on the report of the Department of Health (DOH) released on Thursday night, seven towns in the region posted their first COVID-19 cases with the town of Mapanas in Northern Samar province having the youngest patient.
Joe Louis Gajutos, disaster risk reduction management officer of Mapanas, said that the nine-month old baby boy is now at their isolation facility.
“He is now at our isolation facility with his parents who are both asymptomatic,” he said.
It was learned that the baby boy was suffering some cough since they arrived in Mapanas last July 20 from Quezon City.
The baby is Mapanas’ first COVID-19 case.
Aside from Mapanas, other towns in the region that registered their first cases of the dreaded virus were Silvino Lubos, also in Northern Samar, with four cases; San Jose de Buan, four cases, Almagro, three; Daram, three; and Pagsanghan, two cases, all in the province in Samar; and Tunga in Leyte with two cases.
Except from an overseas worker from Baybay City in Leyte province, all new cases of the region were locally stranded individuals.
The province of Leyte has now 518 COVID-19 cases followed by Samar with 211, Southern Leyte,113, Northern Samar,40, Biliran,35 and Eastern Samar 3.
The DOH attributed the region’s surge of COVID-19 since the start of June to the testing of returning OFWs and LSIs, mostly from Metro Manila and Cebu.
Dr. Minerva Molon, the regional director of the DOH, said 664 or 72.17 percent of the region’s confirmed cases have already recovered.
As confirmed cases continue to rise, the health official reiterated its information campaign, dubbed “BIDA solusyon,” that promotes four key behaviors that would help lessen the possible transmission of COVID-19.
