BAGUIO CITY – The Department of Health (DOH) in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) has scheduled a three-day “aggressive” testing in Kalinga province which recorded a high number of coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19) cases in the past weeks.
Dr. Ruby Constantino, regional director of the DOH-CAR, on Wednesday, said the test is scheduled between Feb. 17 to 20.
“We are seeing the need to conduct an aggressive testing because there might already be a new variant spreading in the province because of the fast spread of cases,” she said.
Constantino said that in Kalinga, coronavirus cases were seen in four areas – Tabuk City which is currently under enhanced community quarantine, and the towns of Lubuagan, Tinglayan, and Pasil.
“We are seeing Kalinga’s situation as similar to Bontoc before the B.1.1.7 UK (United Kingdom) variant was discovered in Mountain Province,” she said.
Latest data shared by Constantino show that Kalinga, currently classified under moderate epidemic risk, recorded a total of 450 cases from Jan. 12 to 25 and another 266 cases from Jan. 26 to Feb. 8 or a total of 816 cases in the last four weeks.
As of Feb. 10, Kalinga has recorded a total of 1,564 Covid-19 positive cases and 12 deaths since last year. There are currently 243 active cases in the province.
There were also eight deaths logged in the province from January 30 to Feb. 10. The entire region recorded 23 deaths on the same 12-day period. **PNA
