As CoViD cases multiply
The year 2022 in Negros Oriental started with 24 CoViD cases. A little more than two weeks later, the number shot up to 368. By the third week of January, the Province had 434 positive cases of the coronavirus .
Health authorities in Negros Oriental are appealing to residents, especially senior citizens and young children, to stay at home to stem the transmission of the coronavirus disease 2019, as cases in Negros Oriental have risen exponentially in the past three weeks.
“The infection is spreading fast,”Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion told reporters in a virtual presser on Wednesday afternoon.
She said the rapid increase in active infections is becoming a concern in the Province, and is most likely due to the highly-transmissible Omicron variant.
This does not even reflect the active cases that are not reported to health authorities, including those asymptomatic under home quarantine but are undocumented, she said.
While the Provincial Health Office is awaiting the results of 50 specimens sent to the Philippine Genome Center for Omicron testing, Estacion said she believes the variant is causing the fast spread of the coronavirus in the Province.
She reported 198 new active cases on Jan. 15, 17, and 18. The figures began to triple by Jan. 10 when 63 infections were reported.
Estacion, the CoViD-19 incident commander of the Province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, appealed to the people to coordinate with their local or barangay health authorities for assessment at the onset of symptoms.
Being documented will help health authorities monitor cases, while contact tracing is made more efficient, she said.
She again called on the unvaccinated to get themselves inoculated against CoViD-19 as an added layer of protection, saying the local government units, the hospitals, and the Macias Sports Center are administering doses, and even accommodating walk-ins.
Senior citizens, young children, and those with co-morbidities must stay at home because once a family member is infected, the tendency is for the entire household to also contract the disease, she added.
As of Jan. 19, the total caseload in Negros Oriental stood at 20,248, broken down into 19,144 recoveries, 434 active cases, and 670 deaths.
The capital city of Dumaguete has the highest number of active cases at 158, while the other towns have two-digit or zero infections.
Negros Oriental is under Alert Level 3 until the end of the month. (Judy F. Partlow/PNA)
