The Department of Health in Western Visayas Center reiterated the need to observe minimum public health protocols even at home and work areas as the local transmission is faster in these places.
“We have no other variant. It’s purely local transmission. They have seen that even if only one member of the family is positive for coronavirus disease 2019, the close contacts can either be four or five who either asymptomatic or with mild symptoms,” Dr. Marie Jocelyn Te, medical officer IV at the DOH-WV for Health Development said yesterday.
She said the majority of families have either one or two members working. Since they do not know that they are infected, or they may have mild symptoms, it can only be confirmed once they get tested.
“We always emphasize to observe minimum public health standards at home because we are too confident, we don’t wear a mask,” she said.
She said that even in public places, some are wearing their face mask incorrectly.
Since the infection can be acquired through droplets, then there is a big chance that the virus can be transmitted even by mere talking, she said.
This June, the daily average cases in Western Visayas reached 620 from the previous 371 in May.
The positivity rate was up to 7.3 percent in May from the 6.3 percent in the previous month.
In Monday’s virtual presser, DOH-WV-CHD medical officer IV Bea Camille Natalaray said the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo are already classified as high-risk while Aklan, Antique, Guimaras, Capiz, and Iloilo province are at moderate risk.
“The healthcare utilization is also increasing. Some areas showed up high to critical utilization of Covid wards, intensive care units, and isolation beds,” she added.
Te said that last year, the surge in cases was experienced in September or October, unlike this year when it can be noticed that cases are already increasing.
She added that while most of the cases last year were detected from returning overseas Filipino workers and locally stranded individuals, this year majority of the cases were locally transmitted.
As of June 8, the regional case bulletin showed that the cumulative cases in Western Visayas have already reached 51,934, with 9,173 active cases, 1,230 deaths, and the rest were recoveries.
As of yesterday, 473 confirmed cases were added from 16 out of the 18 laboratories in the region. There were also 440 new recoveries and 19 new deaths.
The new cases were composed of 452 local infections, three authorized persons outside residence, and 18 LSIs.*PNA
