THE Department of Health (DOH)-Davao noted a 27 percent decrease in dengue cases in Davao Region, with 993 recorded in August as compared to 1,263 last July 2019.

DOH Regional Dengue Control and Prevention Program manager Engineer Antonietta Ebol said deaths due to dengue have also dropped to six in August from 15 in July.

Davao City remains to have the most number of dengue cases in the region at 627, followed by Davao Oriental (104), Davao del Norte (101), Compostela Valley (96), Davao del Sur (62), and Davao Occidental (3).

For their overall data from January to August, the DOH registered a total of 5,566 dengue cases across the region with 30 deaths.

Davao City maintained the highest number of cases with 2,968 and 13 deaths; Compostela Valley with 897 with two deaths; Davao Oriental with 763 cases and three deaths; Davao del Norte with 673 cases and seven deaths; Davao del Sur with 225 cases and three deaths; and Davao Occidental with 40 cases and two deaths.

"Right now, meron tayong ginagawang response on dengue preparedness and response. They have dispatched teams in Davao City sa mga hotspots areas," Ebol said.

She added that in Davao City, they identified 30 dengue hotspots. Some of these are in Buhangin, Talomo North, Talomo Central, Talomo South and Agdao.

To capacitate the health centers, she said they are expecting around 3,000 kits of NS 1 this week. A team from the central office will also be arriving on September 5 to conduct an assessment in the regional office, hospitals, health centers, community, daycare centers, schools, and families.

On August 6, the DOH has declared a national dengue epidemic as cases continued to increase.

With this, the DOH regional office has also stepped up measures to prevent the rising number like the relaunching of the 4 o'clock habit in the community in the onset of the rainy season.