Surge of COVID cases expected during holiday season
PROVINCIAL Health Officer Anna de Guzman said the surge of new COVID-19 cases is because of people’s mobility during the holiday season.
She cited four situations that contributed to the surge: Pangasinan vendors of fruits, vegetables, meat and other essential goods traveled to provinces where cases of COVID-19 were high, for their supplies to be sold; the extended hours of operation of malls to accommodate last-minute shoppers who mindlessly removed their face masks and shields while inside the malls, and in markets where physical distancing was not observed, and lastly, because families in different barangays held parties, reunions, videoke/drinking sessions during the holidays.
“Most of the recorded new cases came from close contacts of the affected residents, mostly living in same houses,” De Guzman said.
She told The PUNCH in an interview that since incubation period of the virus is from five to seven days, the surge is expected to continue this month, pointing out that the number of active cases last week was 480 when there were only 130 during the first week of December.
Most of the deaths were from the vulnerable age of 65 years old and up who also had other co-morbidities like diabetes or were undergoing dialysis, De Guzman said. (Eva Visperas)
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