City, province see COVID downtrend

By Joseph B.A. Marzan

Both the city and province of Iloilo expect the number of new cases of the coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) to go down in the next days.

In a statement, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas encouraged the public to take booster shots so that new cases will continue to decrease.

But he also cited that the city’s Health Care Utilization Rate (HCUR), or the percentage rate of COVID-dedicated beds and mechanical ventilators being used; and the Average Daily Attack Rate (ADAR) or the average number of cases per 100,000 people over a 14-day period, remain high.

Treñas also told Daily Guardian via phone interview that they are increasing booster shot capacity for non-city residents, especially for those from Iloilo province.

“Cases are starting to go down. Our [Health Care Utilization Rate] is still 66% and our [Average Daily Attack Rate] is still high. Let us continue our vaccination and booster program so that more of our constituents are given protection. As long as the number of cases continue to go down in two weeks, we might be back to level 2 and more economic activities can be allowed,” the mayor said in his statement.

Iloilo City Epidemiological Surveillance Unit (ICESU) data as of Feb 2, 2022 indicated that COVID-19 cases have consistently decreased in the past week.

The recent seven-day period started with 406 new cases on Jan. 27 then tapered in the succeeding days – Jan. 28 (366), Jan. 29 (289), Jan. 30 (158), Jan. 31 (207), Feb. 1 (203), and Feb. 2 (196).

ILOILO PROVINCE

Iloilo Governor Arthur Defensor Jr. said in his press conference that cases in the province may also go down following the downtrend in Metro Manila.

“Hopefully we are in the downtrend but based on the anticipated behavior of the virus right now, from the places they came from it’s already been 3 weeks. [Based on] Metro Manila[‘s] experience it has started to come down, and I think that can happen here,” Defensor said.

The Iloilo Provincial Health Office (IPHO) recorded 265 new cases on Feb. 2, higher than on Feb. 1 (162), Jan. 31 (294), and Jan. 30 (384).