Siquijor sees massive spike in COVID-19 cases for the first time since start of pandemic

CEBU, Philippines —  A far cry from its situation in the past year and a half, the Province of Siquijor logged a record-breaking 200 new COVID cases on Friday, September 24, 2021, the highest in Central Visayas on that day.

It was the first time the province recorded triple digits in new cases since the start of the pandemic over a year ago.

Based on the daily case bulletin released by the Department of Health (DOH)-7 on that day, the 200 new cases brought to 600 the province’s total active COVID cases.

DOH-7 officials were not available for comment or explanation on the massive spike.

The last few times Siquijor recorded high numbers were on September 15 with 87 new cases, on September 16 with 83 new cases, and on September 18 with 96 new cases.

On days in between, the province’s numbers ranged from one to 40 new cases. On September 2, 4, 13, and 20, it had no new case.

Siquijor has a population of around 95,000. It is composed of six municipalities – Siquijor (capital), Larena, Enrique Villanueva, Maria, Lazi, and San Juan.

It was in August 2020 when the province first reported two confirmed COVID-19 cases involving locally stranded individuals from Manila, breaking seven months of being COVID-free.

As of September 24, the province has an overall total of 999 cases with 389 recoveries and 10 deaths.

Central Visayas, Siquijor included, has a total of 132,770 COVID cases with 115,819 recoveries; 12,243 active cases; and 4,708 deaths.

Cebu City

Meanwhile, in neighboring Cebu Island, Cebu City’s active case has gone down to 958 as of September 24, based on data from the city’s Emergency Operations Center (EOC).

“It’s a very good day for Cebu City. We breached sub-1 Thousand active case and below the WHO 5% Daily Positivity Rate,” said Councilor Joel Garganera, deputy chief implementer of the EOC, a day after.

Garganera said of the 1,004 samples tested for COVID last Friday, 45 turned out positive, providing the city a daily positivity rate of 4.48 percent. This is below the five percent threshold of the World Health Organization (WHO), which is one of the considerations in reopening a place’s economy further.

“June 27 when we started to have a daily positivity rate of more than the threshold set by the WHO. Today, is the first day to have a daily positivity rate of less than 5% since Cebu City had the third surge,” Garganera said.

Garganera attributes the decrease in cases partly to the ongoing vaccination program.

As of September 23, Cebu City has vaccinated fully 40 percent of the target population or a total of 270,816 individuals, and has given the first dose to 49.53 percent of the target population or 336,204 individuals.

The city also recorded 128 new recoveries on September 24, bringing its total recoveries to 37,935.

Three new deaths were reported on that day, bringing to 90 the number of deaths in September alone. At least 1,344 have died from COVID-19 in the city.

Even with the positive development, Garganera continues to urge the public to remain compliant to minimum health protocols.

“Our numbers are changing into what is acceptable. These are little victories of the people behind the scene in fighting this pandemic. But nevertheless, the fight is not yet over. COVID is everywhere, thus, we continue to strictly implement the minimum health standard set of us,” he said. - Mary Ruth R. Malinao, JMO (FREEMAN)