COVID-19 CHECK. A health worker collects swab samples from a locally stranded individual who returned to Kananga town in Leyte in this Aug. 1, 2020 photo. The Department of Health on Tuesday (Aug. 4, 2020) reported 38 new coronavirus disease cases in Eastern Visayas, bringing the region’s total to 1,035. (Photo courtesy of Kananga local government)
TACLOBAN CITY – Eastern Visayas has breached the 1,000-mark in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases, doubling the figure in just five weeks, the Department of Health (DOH) reported on Tuesday night.
The health department said the region has already recorded 1,035 cases since April 2020 with the 38 more new infections on Tuesday. The current figure is nearly double the 524 cases recorded on June 29.
Majority of infected persons are locally stranded individuals who returned to their home provinces after losing jobs and livelihood in Metro Manila and Cebu due to movement restrictions.
About 188 confirmed cases are considered as local transmission, including several health workers assigned at the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center, who contracted the virus last month.
Among provinces, Leyte has the most number cases at 458, followed by Samar with 227, Southern Leyte with 140, Tacloban City and Ormoc City with 65 cases each, Northern Samar with 40, Biliran with 36, and Eastern Samar with only four cases.
“Currently, we have 289 active cases all confined in community isolation units managed by local government units in the region. Those with severe and mild symptoms are admitted in hospitals,” DOH assistant regional director Exuperia Sabalberino said in a virtual press briefing on Wednesday.
Total recoveries are now at 746, representing 72 percent of the total cases logged in the past four months, Sabalberino added.
The high recovery rate in the region can be attributed to several asymptomatic patients. Of the 1,035 recorded cases, 896 of them have not shown any symptoms, 133 are considered as mild, and only six are severe. The region has already recorded four Covid-19 deaths.
The DOH regional office here said the new cases will be tagged as patient numbers 998 to 1,035.
Leyte reported 16 new cases - four in Barugo town, three each in Jaro and Kananga, two in Tabango and Albuera, and one each in Capoocan and Carigara.
In Southern Leyte, 13 more residents have been infected with five in Macrohon, three in Maasin City, and one each in the towns of Anahawan, San Ricardo, Liloan, Padre Burgos, and Tomas Oppus.
Samar has nine new cases, two each in Catbalogan City and the towns of Pinabacdao and Motiong, and one each in Basey, Gandara, San Jose de Buan.
New infections were part of the 524 swab results from the region’s two Covid-19 testing laboratories here.
The state-run Eastern Visayas Covid-19 Testing Center reported 36 of the new confirmed cases, while the privately-managed laboratory at Divine Word Hospital released a total of eight positive results, two of which are new cases and six are retests of patients from Leyte. (PNA)
