No active cases in 10 Pangasinan towns

MANILA, Philippines — Ten towns in Pangasinan have recorded no active coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 cases, the provincial health office reported yesterday.

These are Alcala, Asingan, Basista, Burgos, Infanta, San Nicolas, San Quintin, Sta. Maria, Sto. Tomas and Umingan.

Pangasinan recorded 1,563 cases as of Friday. At least 342 are active, 1,163 have recovered and 58 died.

Twenty-three other areas in the province are in the province’s COVID-19 watchlist.

These are Dagupan City, Lingayen, Sta. Barbara, Malasiqui, Calasiao, Alaminos City, Mangaldan, Anda, Bolinao, Mangatarem, Urdaneta City, Binmaley, Manaoag, Sual, Tayug, Bugallon, Dasol, San Carlos City, San Fabian, Sison, Balunago and Rosales.

In Benguet, a building, where 200 miners and their families are residing, was locked down on Friday after 74 of them were found positive for the virus.

“As agreed upon during an emergency meeting... all contacts of the 74 cases will be managed as positive cases,” Benguet Gov. Melchor Diclas said.

Itogon police chief Capt. Dexter Simon said the 74 patients were isolated on the third floor of the building while the rest were quarantined on the second and ground floor while waiting for the result of their swab tests.

The 74 new cases in Itogon, the highest recorded in one day, are among the 93 logged in Benguet on Thursday.

2nd wave

As this developed, in Cebu City, authorities reminded the public to continue to observe minimum health protocols to prevent a second wave of COVID-19 cases.

“People most of the time take it different when experiencing little success,” Emergency Operations Center (EOC) deputy chief and Councilor Joel Garganera said.

The active cases in Cebu City are down to 103 based on EOC’s monitoring. Department of Health records show there are 213 cases in the city as of Friday.

Mayor Edgardo Labella had earlier announced a cash incentive for barangays that will report no case in the next two months.

Environment Secretary Roy Cimatu, who was appointed to oversee the situation in Cebu City in June, gave the local government unit the highest rating for its COVID-19 response in the past four months.

Cimatu said local officials in the entire Central Visayas should ensure a COVID-free status. – Raymund Catindig, The Freeman