EASTERN Visayas has recorded its highest number of new coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections since January with 186 new cases on Friday, May 28, 2021.
“The increasing trend of confirmed Covid-19 cases in the region is mainly attributed to the increased mobility of the people due to reduced travel restrictions, and the complacency of the public to the minimum health and safety protocols when in public areas like shopping malls and public markets,” said the Department of Health Eastern Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH-EVCHD) through its Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit.
As of Friday, the region has posted a total of 20,479 Covidi-19 cases, where 19,267 (94.08 percent) have recovered.
This brings the total active cases of Eastern Visayas to 906, it added.
As this developed, the health department warned the public against super spreader events such as birthday parties, fiesta celebrations, and other social gatherings.
“The DOH-EVCHD and its partner agencies have always been consistent in their guidance to the public and echoed that the local communities must still be vigilant of the risks that these social gatherings can bring,” it said.
“To complement the intensified vaccination activities in the region, the agency calls the public to strictly and consistently adhere to the minimum public health standards to minimize the risk of exposure and infection,” the health department added.
Meanwhile, the region also observed an alarming increase in the number of deaths caused by Covid-19.
Of the 306 total recorded mortality, 151 or 49.35 percent of this occurred only between January and May, only four months past this year, according to the health department.
The monitoring team also noted that 71 barangays in the region are considered “Covid-19 hotspots” or with a total of three or more cases for the last two weeks.
“Active contact tracing and swift case detection, completion of isolation or quarantine period, and continued implementation of the Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Rehabilitation (PDITR) strategies and other localized interventions by the local government units are necessary to slow down the transmission rate and bring down the number of Covid-19 cases in the region,” the health department said in a statement.
As of Friday, no Covid-19 variant has been detected in Eastern Visayas. (SunStar Philippines)