Zambales virus infection ‘still high’

IBA, ZAMBALES — The provincial government disclosed that the province is still among the 14 provinces in the country which recently registered “very high” or above 20 percent Covid-19 positivity rates as of 29 July.

With the development, Zambales Governor Hermogenes Ebdane stressed that residents should strictly observe health safety protocols and get vaccinated in face of the continuing transmission of Covid-19 in the province.

However, Zambales has the fourth lowest percentage in the list with a positivity rate of 27.2 percent, while Isabela scored the highest with 36.3 percent, followed by Tarlac at 31.6 percent.

Ebdane, who had earlier identified health as his administration’s first priority, warned that restrictions may again be imposed if the number of cases rise anew and escalate the classification of Zambales from its current Alert Level 1 rating.

“We have seen a resurgence of cases lately from just two active cases on 1 July to 90 active cases on 31 July and this is a matter of concern for us,” Ebdane said. “This is not the time to be complacent. I have to remind all my kababayans that the pandemic is not yet over and that Covid-19 is still here.”

The governor is also urging the public to continue to wear masks, practice physical distancing and disinfection, and get vaccinated.

According to the Zambales Provincial Health Office (PHO), there are 94 active Covid-19 cases in the province as of 5 August, with infections recorded in all the 13 towns.

The municipality of Cabangan has the highest number of active cases with a total of 14, followed by Castilejos with 12 and Palauig with 10.

It was followed by San Felipe with 9; Iba, Subic, Masinloc, and Santa Cruz, with 8 cases each; Botolan, 7; San Antonio, 6; San Marcelino, 2; and San Narciso and Candelaria with 1 each.

In the last two years of the pandemic, the province had recorded a total of 12,002 confirmed Covid-19 cases, with 11,205 recoveries and 703 deaths, giving it a high recovery rate of 93.36 percent.

Ebdane said the provincial government is boosting its pandemic response with the upgrading of health facilities and an aggressive vaccination program that takes public health workers to even the remotest barangays to get residents vaccinated.

PHO records show that Zambales already attained 61.97 percent of its vaccination target with 402,596 residents already fully vaccinated. PHO had also given a total of 90,971 booster doses to residents.

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