Cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) infection in Western Visayas are going down although the risk classification for Iloilo City is high and moderate for both Bacolod City and Aklan.
“We look forward that our cases will really go down. Daily we assess cases to determine if they are declining. We really are hopeful that our cases will be reduced,” Dr. Mary Jean Juanico, head of the infectious disease cluster of the Department of Health Western Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH WV CHD) said in an interview on Tuesday.
She said the decline is relative to the number of cases in recent months.
But when compared with January, infections were higher in June and July when daily recorded cases were between 400 to 600.
Juanico attributed the decline to the stricter quarantine classification raised in Western Visayas.
The city and province of Iloilo are on modified enhanced general community quarantine (MECQ) until July 15 while the rest of the province and this highly urbanized city are on general community quarantine (GCQ) until the end of this month.
“It was a big factor that non-essential travels were put on hold,” she added.
The control in cases is also dependent on the efforts of local government units (LGUs) in terms of prevention, detection, isolation, treatment, and reintegration (PDITR) strategy.
With the case of Iloilo City, she said it is unlikely that its rate classification will already go down after July 15.
The city is at high risk based on the average daily attack rate (ADAR) per 100,000 population while its utilization of intensive care unit (ICU) beds and the mechanical ventilator is at a critical level.
Iloilo province with its low-risk classification in terms of ADAR and health care utilization rate “most likely” will go down at least one quarantine classification lower.
She also hoped that the risk classifications of Aklan and Bacolod City will become stable as their growth in terms of cases in the past two weeks are classified as low risk although their ADAR remains moderate.
Juanico said amid the cases, the strict implementation of the minimum public health standards (MPHS) must be observed regardless of their vaccination status.
Also, eligible populations should submit to the vaccination, especially those belonging to the priority groups of A1 to A3 namely health care workers, senior citizens, and adults with comorbidities.
“The longer it takes for us to complete the vaccination, the longer will be our agony. The vaccination program is really one of the key strategies to immediately stop the pandemic,” she said.
As of July 12, Western Visayas has 11,389 active cases, 60,434 recoveries, and 1,696 deaths.
Source: Philippines News Agency
