DOWN BY 48.9%

THE Department of Health-Center for Health Development 1 (DOH-CHD 1) reported a significant decrease of 43,351 cases, or 48.9 percent, in the number of active cases in the region from a reported 88,653 total number of cases.

But it was this good news that prompted Dr. Rheuel Bobis, COVID-19 focal person in Region 1, to warn the public not to be complacent and must still continue adopting the minimum standard health protocols lest the region sees another surge of COVID-19 cases as seen earlier in  the last three months

Bobis said his office is seeing a daily decline in active cases and expressed hope that a much smaller number of cases will be seen in the region by end of October and the utilization rate of intensive care units (ICUs) would be on the safe zone – more ICUs and isolation beds that can be offered to more COVID-19 patients.

Pangasinan and Dagupan City still have the highest number of COVID-19 cases but a new surge of cases in La Union was reported.

As of October 20, the CHD-1 recorded a total of 82,119 recoveries, after 766 new recoveries have been logged. Only 243 cases were recorded the same day.

As of October 17, Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and Pangasinan are now on a safe zone and only La Union is still a high risk area because its ICU utilization rate is still 71 percent. Dagupan is at medium risk level, with 66 percent ICU utilization rate.

As far as the utilization rate of dedicated isolation beds is concerned, Region 1 is on a safe zone but La Union is considered high risk with 75 percent utilization rate and Ilocos Sur at medium risk with 62 percent utilization rate.

On the use of mechanical ventilators, the region has 41 percent utilization rate. (La Union registered the highest utilization rate at 63 percent, followed by Ilocos Sur, 60 percent).

Pangasinan and other provinces in the region, asked for stricter quarantine measures from the IATF. Pangasinan was placed under General Community Quarantine with Heightened Restrictions up last week.

The latest report of the UP Philippine Genome Center indicated 328 variants of concerns in Region 1-  the most dominant is still Delta, followed by Alpha variant, 89; Beta variant, 29; and Theta variant, 2.

The most number of variants of concern were detected in Pangasinan and Dagupan City, followed by Ilocos Norte, Ilocos Sur and La Union.

There were 147 Delta cases in the region: Pangasinan has 43, Dagupan, 25; Ilocos Norte, 49; Ilocos Sur, 20; and La Union, 10. But the good news, said Bobis, is that all patients infected by the Delta variant have recovered.

Meanwhile, he attributed to the decreasing number of active COVID-19 cases to the high number of recoveries of patients owing to the adequate responses made by the Department of Health and local governments, strict border control measures by the LGUs and the police and the zoning contentment strategy adopted by LGUs. (Leonardo Micua/Ahikam Pasion)

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