BE VIGILANT. Iloilo Provincial Health Office head Dr. Ma. Socorrro Quiñon urged the public not to become complacent and submit to vaccination as protection against Covid-19. In a media interview on Thursday (Oct. 20, 2022), she said Iloilo recorded four cases of the XBC variant and 14 of the XBB variant, which could be the reason for the spike in Covid-19 cases in the province. (PNA file photo)
ILOILO CITY – The Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) is pointing to the new variants of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) as a possible reason for the spike in cases in the province, which currently stands at 424.
IPHO head Dr. Ma. Socorro Quiñon, in a media interview on Thursday, said the Regional Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) relayed that the province has four cases of the XBC variant and 14 of the XBB variant.
“This could probably be the reason why there is a spike in our cases,” she said in Hiligaynon.
Quiñon said from an average of 11 cases daily in the past three to four weeks, it has suddenly increased to 25 since October 3.
The XBC variant cases are all from the municipality of Pavia while the XBB patients are spread in nine towns and one component city – Oton and Pavia with three each and one each in the towns of Alimodian, Cabatuan, Lambunao, Leganes, Miagao, San Miguel, and Sta. Barbara, and Passi City.
A press statement released by the DOH on October 18 said the XBB variant, first detected in India, is a “recombinant of two Omicron sub-variants.”
Of the 61 cases detected in the Philippines, 60 were from Western Visayas and one from the Davao region.
Eight of the cases are still active, 50 already recovered and three are still being verified.
The XBC variant is a “recombinant of the Omicron BA.2 and Delta (B.1.617.2) variant."
Of the 71 cases in the country, five were from Western Visayas.
Of the total XBC cases, five have died, 63 are tagged as recovered, and three are still being verified.
Quiñon, meanwhile, said the public should not be complacent and they should continue observing the minimum public health standards, such as wearing face masks, frequent handwashing, and submitting to vaccination, especially the booster dose.
She added that while according to studies the variants are contagious, with vaccination, the fear of the infection becoming severe could be avoided.
IPHO data showed that as of Thursday, 88.03 percent or 1,373,179 of the target 1.46 million eligible population are fully vaccinated, 18.71 percent or 273,472 have received their first booster shot, and only 1.35 percent or 19,749 have submitted for the second booster. (PNA)
