COVID-19 cases in Iloilo City up by over 60% in March

Iloilo City saw a 60% increase in the number of COVID-19 cases recorded in March 2021 following the surge of cases traced to a business processing management (BPM) firm and a warehouse in the metro.

From March 1 to 23 this year, Iloilo City logged 365 cases This is 61.50 percent higher compared to the same period in the previous month of February where the city recorded 226 cases.

As to the daily COVID-19 rate, the city has an average of 16 cases per day which is also 60% higher than February last month where the average daily increase was 10 cases per day.

For the month of March, the city recorded the highest number of COVID-19 cases in a day last March 18 with 66, followed by March 20 with 46 and March 17 with 32.

It was during these dates that surge in COVID-19 cases were traced to Hinduja Global Solutions (HGS)-Iloilo, a BPM company based in Mandurriao district and a warehouse in La Paz district.

Over 100 positive cases were traced from the BPM firm while over 30 cases have been recorded from the warehouse in La Paz.

Currently, the city has 5,688 total cases with 5,145 recoveries, 375 active cases and 168 deaths.

Meanwhile, following the surge of cases in the city, Iloilo City Mayor Jerry Treñas issued a memorandum last Monday, March 22, 2021 requesting all department heads and chiefs of offices at the Iloilo City hall including barangay captains to regularly post daily COVID-19 bulletins and preventive measures against COVID-19 in their respective social media pages.

According to the mayor, there is a need to regularly inform the city residents of right information so that they will be aware and vigilant on the rising cases of COVID-19 in the city.

“In view of the rising cases of COVID-19, there is a need to regularly inform city residents including employees of the Iloilo City government for them to be fully aware and vigilant against the transmission of the virus in the area,” he said in the memo.

The mayor said the bulletins, health, and safety protocols can be accessed through the official pages of the Iloilo City government and Iloilo City Covid-19 Emergency Operations center. (ERS)