GOVERNOR Eugenio Jose Lacson urges the public to continue vigilance against dengue despite the downtrend of cases this week.

Lacson said that he is hoping that the dengue cases would continue to go down as rainy weather condition is expected in the coming days.

Lacson also noted that while it is good that the cases are coming down but it's bad that there are several deaths reported.

Per data of the Provincial Health Office, there were already 49 dengue-related deaths reported from January to August this year.

"We should continue to observe proper sanitation and eradicate mosquito breeding places," Lacson emphasized.

Provincial Health Office (PHO) head Dr. Ernell Tumimbang reported that the number of dengue cases in the province has increased by 67 percent compared to the same period last year.

From January 1 to August 24 this year, they are 6,641 cases in the province compared to 4,327 reported in the same period last year.

Kabankalan City has the highest number of dengue-related cases with 972, followed by Bago City with 597.

The town of Candoni also recorded an increase in the percentage of dengue cases with the town reporting 179 dengue cases compared to last year's 59 cases, an increase of 1,100 percent.