By Emme Rose Santiagudo
Three more cases of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) were reported in Western Visayas on Wednesday, bringing the total cases to 66, amid the shift of Iloilo City and other provinces to more relaxed quarantine protocols.
In a bulletin issued by the Department of Health Center for Health Development in Western Visayas (DOH-CHD 6), the three new COVID-19 cases are in Antique and Iloilo City.
A 43-year-old female (WV Patient No. 64) and a 49-year-old male (WV Patient No. 65) both from the town of Caluya, Antique are among the new cases, according to Dr. May Ann Soliva-Sta. Lucia head of the Health Promotion of DOH-CHD 6.
Iloilo City also recorded its latest case, a 48-year-old male from Arevalo, Iloilo City.
Based on Bulletin Case No. 34, Sta. Lucia said the region now has 66 confirmed COVID-19 cases with 24 recoveries and nine deaths.
Iloilo province has the highest number of cases with 20 followed by Antique (13), Iloilo City (9), Bacolod City (9), Aklan (6), Capiz (5), and Negros Occidental (4).
Except for Iloilo province which remains under enhanced community quarantine, all other areas in Western Visayas will slide down to general community quarantine which has more relaxed rules.
As of April 28, Sta. Lucia said 96 percent of the 1, 979 contacts of the recorded cases have been traced.
“Out of the 1,979 contacts of the patients, 1,896 were traced, that is equivalent to 96 percent,” she said in an online press briefing on Wednesday.
Out of the 698 individuals of the contacts who were traced, 25 tested positive for COVID-19 while 401 were negative, according to Sta. Lucia.
“We still have a total of 272 pending results of the contacts. The 272 contacts whose laboratory results remain pending are from Aklan (1), Antique (125), Capiz (50), Iloilo province (29), Iloilo City (16), and Negros Occidental (51),” she said.
