The latest Covid-19 bulletin issued by the Department of Health (DOH) regional office this week. (DOH Region 8 image)
TACLOBAN CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) regional office here said the reiteration of alert level status of provinces seeks to equip the public with better layers of protection against Covid-19.
In a statement on Tuesday, the DOH field office clarified that the 26 provinces and cities listed under Alert Level 2 in an April 14 resolution of the Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases were not escalated from Level 1 since these are their status since June 2022.
Leyte and Samar provinces are included under the Level 2 classification.
The health department further said that the alert level system continues to provide guidance for every Filipino.
“The DOH continues to encourage those that are still unvaccinated, unboosted, or under-boosted to get the vaccines as soon as possible while it is still free of charge, especially for senior citizens. The DOH is continuously working with the local government units of the identified provinces and cities to increase their Covid-19 vaccination coverage,” the DOH stated.
As of April 24, a total of 2,880,573 individuals in Region 8 (Eastern Visayas) are already fully vaccinated against Covid-19. Of the number, 556,238 received booster dose.
“The DOH reminds the public that as we continue to re-open the economy, we need to ensure that we are healthy. This is not the good time to get sick. We have seen reports that some hospitals have increasing admissions for other diseases and these diseases account for admissions during pre-pandemic time. Also, the ongoing extreme heat may trigger worsening symptoms of other diseases,” the DOH regional office added.
Since the pandemic broke out until this week, Eastern Visayas has already recorded 64,785 Covid-19 cases, 64,065 recoveries, and 694 deaths. (PNA)
