ILOILO City – Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) infections appear to be spreading fast.
“It might already be a new variant or the virus is behaving differently now,” said Mayor Jerry Treñas.
Iloilo City recorded 105 new infections yesterday, raising the metro’s total active cases to 2,086, data from the Department of Health (DOH) Region 6 showed.
“Isa ang (new) variant sa ginatan-aw naton,” said DOH-6’s Dr. Bea Camille Fillaro-Natalaray, “that’s why molecular laboratories in the region continue sending classified specimen to the Philippine Genome Center (PGC) in Manila for genome sequencing.”
Genome sequencing is a technique that allows researchers to decipher the genetic information found in the DNA and will provide scientific proof whether new COVID variants are now in the region.
Natalaray said the test laboratories are the ones deciding which specimen to send for sequencing “to detect if may ara variant especially sa mga areas nga may clustering of cases.”
Clustering of cases refers to two or more cases recorded in two consecutive weeks within a single area.
“Ang laboratories naga-determine kon amo ‘na nga specimen ang ipadala… may mga technical terms sa laboratories (to determine which),” she explained.
Western Visayas COVID-19 laboratories have so far sent 251 specimen samples to the Philippine Genome Center for genome sequencing.
No local cases of the new variant have so far been detected, Natalaray said.
One South African and three United Kingdom variants of the coronavirus were detected in returning Western Visayan overseas Filipinos (ROFs) and locally stranded individuals (LSIs), but these were detected while they were still in Manila.
Mayor Treñas earlier advised the public to take extra care.
“I am not a doctor but I see that transmission is so fast and many are infected…Stay at home and if you are compelled to go out, take care of yourself,” he said.
Treñas also considered writing the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) to capacitate the Sub-National Laboratory (SNL) in Western Visayas Medical Center for genome sequencing.
He noted that the virus seemed to be more infectious now, citing cases of some families in the city wherein almost members of the household, if not all, are getting infected.
Aside from possible new COVID variants, other factors seen why there’s fast local transmission are: the following:
* family gatherings or celebrations
* workplaces where workers tend to be complacent about protocols (wearing of facemasks and physical distancing)
* failure to follow public health standards, especially the proper wearing of facemasks, among others.
People can catch COVID-19 from others who have the virus. The disease can spread from person to person through small droplets from the nose or mouth which are spread when a person with COVID-19 coughs or exhales.
These droplets also land on objects and surfaces around the person. Other people then catch COVID-19 by touching these objects or surfaces, then touching their eyes, nose or mouth.
As of June 7, total COVID-19 cases in the region already surpassed the 50,000 mark.
DOH-6 data showed that 511 new cases were logged yesterday, bringing the total active cases in the region to 9,155 and the cumulative confirmed cases to 51,460.
The region also recorded six new COVID deaths and 292 recoveries, bringing the total deaths and recoveries to 1,211 and 41,078, respectively./PN
