Negros Oriental residents are warned against a possible rise in coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases after weeks of having very minimal infections, a key health official here on Friday said.
Assistant Provincial Health Officer Dr. Liland Estacion told the Philippine News Agency she was going to Guihulngan City to investigate two new positive Covid-19 cases.
“The two new cases are on top of what I had reported yesterday (Thursday) afternoon during our press briefing, and both patients were found positive of the virus through the RT-PCR (reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction) testing,” Estacion said in mixed English and Cebuano.
She said she has ordered thorough contact tracing in Guihulngan City to identify the people who were exposed to these patients.
As of May 19, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) reported a total caseload of 23,456, broken down into 22,803 recoveries, two active infections, and 741 deaths.
A decline in the number of positive cases during the past weeks is partly attributed to people no longer submitting themselves for testing, she said.
Last month, 16 local government units in the province logged zero Covid-19 cases, the PHO had reported.
Those who exhibit flu-like symptoms nowadays no longer report to health authorities but purchase over-the-counter antigen testing kits to do their own self-examination, she noted.
Health authorities are anticipating a possible rise in cases after weeks of election campaigning and large gatherings.
“I am appealing to the people that if you have been exposed to a known confirmed positive Covid-19 case, please inform health authorities so that we can have a clearer picture of the status of the pandemic in our province,” Estacion said.
Meanwhile, the vaccination rollout in Negros Oriental still has not reached its target to attain population protection but “we’re almost there”, she said.
PHO records show that 653,161 individuals are fully-vaccinated (including those who received the one-shot Janssen vaccine), representing 65.9 percent of the total target of 990,637.
Those who received the first dose and are awaiting their second dose reached 589,722.
Estacion reiterated her appeal to those qualified to get the booster shots to avail of them now, as a measly 8.2 percent or 81,897 individuals have received it.
Source: Philippines News Agency
