Western Visayas logged an average of 613 new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) per day in the first week of June.
The figure, according to the Department of Health (DOH-6), is the highest average daily new infections posted by the city so far since the pandemic started last year.
It’s 65 percent higher compared to 371 average daily cases recorded last month.
As of June 6, the region registered 51,941 cumulative COVID-19 cases, of which 40,786 have recovered, 1,205 have died, and 8,941 are considered active cases.
Dr. Bea Camille Natalaray, DOH-6 medical officer IV, said the region remains free from all known COVID-19 variants.
But the health department continue to monitor the possible presence of the new variants and send specimen samples to the Philippine Genome Center for sequencing.
“Isa ang variant sa ginatan-aw naton, that’s why ang aton laboratories, ginaclassify nila ang specimen nga pwede ipadala sa Philippine Genome Center for sequencing to detect if may ara variant,” said Natalaray.
Most of the samples sent to the genome center came from areas with clustering of COVID-19 cases.
So far, the region was able to send a total of 251 samples.
There were four returning overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) and locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from the region who tested positive for the UK variant (3) and the South African variant (1) but they already recovered in Manila before returning to their home provinces.
Meanwhile, Natalaray attributed the rise in local transmissions in the region to family gatherings, work places and failure to properly follow the minimum health standards.IMT
