BY LEANDER C. DOMINGO
BAMBANG, Nueva Vizcaya—Coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in Nueva Vizcaya surged close to 200 on Sunday with the addition of 25 on Saturday and 19 on Sunday new cases, according to the Provincial Integrated Health Office (PIHO).
Dr. Edwin Galapon, PIHO chief, said the new cases bring the province of Nueva Vizcaya’s total Covid-19 recorded cases to 186 including six deaths since the outbreak in mid-March of which 145 are active cases.
According to the PIHO, of the 145 active cases, 105 are from Solano town, 20 from Bayombong, six from Quezon, five from Bagabag, five from Dupax del Sur, and one case each in Bambang, Villaverde, Aritao, and Santa Fe.
There were no confirmed cases in the towns of Diadi, Ambaguio, Dupax del Norte, Alfonso Castañeda, Kasibu and Kayapa.
The sudden surge in the number of Covid-19 cases started last week of August with a large portion of infections traced to a group of gym enthusiasts and to a meat inspector, both in Solano town.
The Regional Inter-agency Task Force in Cagayan Valley (Region 2) has also concurred with the resolution of Solano Municipal Task Force placing the entire municipality under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine.
Meanwhile, an advisory form the municipal health office of Bayombong town revealed that one of the Philippine Statistics Authority (PSA) staff was confirmed positive of Covid-19 resulting in the temporary closure of PSA office in the town for the conduct of contact tracing.
After the order of temporary closure of the provincial capitol except for the PIHO, provincial disaster risk reduction management office, provincial jail and security personnel section of the provincial services office, Governor Carlos Padilla has appealed to the public to avoid mass gatherings even though the province remains under modified general community quarantine. LEANDER C. DOMINGO