WITH LOWER NEW, ACTIVE CASES

THE improving situation of the COVID-19 pandemic in Pangasinan has prompted the provincial government to ask the Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Disease (IATF-EID) for the restoration of the province’s modified general community quarantine (MGCQ) level.

In a video message on Tuesday, Governor Amado Espino III said the request  for the least stringent quarantine classification from the current general community quarantine (GCQ) with heightened restrictions was made in the light of continuing decline in the number of new and active cases in the province.

And in his letter to the IATF Screening and Validation Committee, the governor said recent data shows that the COVID-19 situation in Pangasinan has subsided, with the seven-day daily average cases from Oct. 15-21 going down to 128 new active cases per day. The number of active cases in Pangasinan has likewise declined to 1,301 active cases on Oct. 20, compared to 4,844 active cases recorded on Sept.12.

He added that the COVID-19 occupancy rates in all government and private hospitals have gone down and hospitals are no longer operating beyond their capacities with the continuous recoveries of more COVID-19 patients and low confinement rates.

The number of component cities/municipalities in Pangasinan classified as critical zones has likewise declined. Previously in September, 32 out of 47 component local government units (LGUs) were considered as critical zones for reaching the 25 percent threshold of component barangays with detected positive COVID-19 cases. Last week, only five component LGUs remain as critical zones.

He also added that from the all-time single day 879 confirmed cases on Sept. 13, the Provincial Health Office (PHO) recorded only 81 new confirmed cases on Oct. 23.

The governor cited the cooperation among communities with the local governments and the growing number of Pangasinenses receiving the vaccines.

Espino said, as of Oct. 25, over 969,000 Pangasinenses have already been vaccinated,  representing 49 percent of the eligible population of the province: 22 percent of whom have been fully vaccinated while 27 percent received their first dose.

The provincial government, in partnership with the DOH, will ramp-up the intensified vaccination roll-out to achieve the 70 percent herd immunity of the province by the end of this year. (Eva Visperas/Jerick Pasiliao)

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