Tacloban City surpasses other provinces in Region 8 for new COVID-19 cases

Dubbed as the "City of Hope," Tacloban City surpasses other provinces in the Eastern Visayas region in terms of new COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days. Photo by iTacloban.

TACLOBAN CITY — Tacloban City surpasses other provinces in the Eastern Visayas region for new COVID-19 cases in the last 14 days, based on DOH Covid-19 tracker data as of June 9, 2021. 

The city dubbed as "The Gateway to Eastern Visayas" posted a sudden surge of new cases this week. As of June 9, 2021, Tacloban has 339 active COVID-19 cases. Meanwhile, the Department of Health - Eastern Visayas (DOH-EV) announced a surge of 112 new cases in the said city today, June 10, 2021.

Image shows that Tacloban surpassed 5 provinces in Region 8 for new COVID-19 cases, as of June 9, 2021.

The general public is advised to maintain health safety protocols and avoid gatherings if you don't want Tacloban or Region 8 to be listed in the FASTEST PH CITIES/REGION WITH HIGHEST GROWTH RATES OF COVID-19.

DOH-EV already announced yesterday for intensified implementation of minimum public health standards. Read the statement below:

DOH EVCHD REPORTS ALL-TIME HIGH COVID-19 CASES RECORDED IN A SINGLE DAY SINCE PANDEMIC STARTED; ADVISES LGUs FOR INTENSIFIED IMPLEMENTATION OF MINIMUM PUBLIC HEALTH STANDARDS AGAINST SUPER SPREADER EVENTS

Press Release as of June 9, 2021

Three hundred sixty-one (361) new cases of COVID-19 are recorded today, June 9, in Eastern Visayas, yet again beating its record for the highest number of new cases recorded in a single day since the announcement of the COVID-19 pandemic. The Department of Health Eastern Visayas Center for Health Development (DOH EVCHD) expresses its concern for this alarming increase of cases in the region commonly caused by super spreader events and relaxation of travel protocols.

To date, the region has now a total of 22,766 cases of COVID-19 with 1,723 active cases at a 28.52% positivity rate from the samples tested. These statistics also set the record for the highest total of active cases and positivity rate ever recorded in the region, so far. This is now the fifth time that the region has set course in beating its record for the highest number of cases recorded in a day since the agency first declared the first all-time high for this year on May 28.

In addition to this projection, the DOH EVCHD Surveillance Unit is still reinforcing its strict investigation with the local cases of B.1.1.7 lineage or variant Alpha, commonly known as the UK variant, in Calbayog City where forward tracing is currently being conducted to help prevent the spread of transmission of this variant of concern in the local community. Additional samples will also be sent to the Philippine Genome Center for sequencing in order to further investigate and verify the possibility of the presence of other variants of concern in the region. This is due to the overwhelming rapid spike of COVID-19 cases in the region.

The hospitals are already at a critical level, especially the Eastern Visayas Regional Medical Center (EVRMC), the major COVID-19 referral hospital in the region, as evidenced by the reported pending referrals. This shows that nothing short of devastating is brought by the surge of COVID-19 in the medical field as it highlights the limitations on resources and manpower in the health facilities in Eastern Visayas. The public is given these up-to-date data for the COVID-19 situation in the region to serve as a compass for the direction the majority may take against the presence of the said virus in each respective locality. This is not merely a report of recoveries and deaths, but a plea, if not a warning, to the alarming growth and severity of COVID-19 in the region.

The DOH EVCHD would like to reiterate to all Local Government Units (LGUs) for the strict compliance and implementation of Regional Inter-Agency Task Force (RIATF) on EID Resolution No. 25: REMINDING LOCAL GOVERNMENT UNITS IN EASTERN VISAYAS TO INTENSIFY THE IMPLEMENTATION AND OBSERVANCE OF THE MINIMUM HEALTH STANDARD TO PREVENT SUPER SPREADER EVENT.

The resolution has enumerated several guidelines to address the issue on social gatherings or super spreader events that can be sources of transmission. The agency had to seek further policy implementation for this due to the rapid and uncontrolled movement of the people, that “despite the rising of COVID-19 cases, and the entry of the variant of concern in the region, there are reports on violations and non-observance of the protocols and the seeming neglect of their duty by local government officials especially those at the barangays.”

To complement the intensified vaccination activities in the region, the agency calls the public to strictly and consistently adhere to the minimum public health standards to minimize the risk of exposure and infection. Active contact tracing and swift case detection, completion of isolation or quarantine period, and continued implementation of the Prevention, Detection, Isolation, Treatment, and Rehabilitation (PDITR) strategies and other localized interventions by the local government units are necessary to slow down the transmission rate and bring down the number of COVID-19 cases in the region.

The DOH’s BIDA Solusyon Plus Campaign continues to encourage the public to observe minimum public health standards in order to mitigate the identified risks of the virus, even after getting vaccinated: “B - Bawal walang mask; I - I-sanitize ang mga kamay. D - Dumistansya ng isang metro; and A - alamin ang totoong impormasyon; and Plus – suportahan ang FDA-approved bakuna.”

  —Tacloban News Update (Source: DOH )