TACLOBAN CITY - The Department of Health (DOH-8) has recorded eight deaths out of the total of 4,221 dengue cases in Eastern Visayas from January 1 to July 18, 2020.
The nine deaths were recorded from Leyte -- one each from the municipalities of Abuyog, La Paz, Ormoc City, Baybay, and Tacloban City; Eastern Samar – one each from the municipalities of Giporlos, Arteche, and General MacArthur; and one from Tagapul-an, Samar.
DOH-8 Regional Director Minerva Molon said Leyte also had the highest number of cases among the six provinces with 2,160, or 51.17 percent. Of these, 279 were from Tacloban City, 228 were from Baybay City, and 158 were from Ormoc City.
This was followed by Southern Leyte with 571 cases, or 13.53 percent, with 113 cases recorded in Maasin City. They have also identified Barangay Asuncion in the city with a clustering of dengue cases.
Samar province had 521 cases with 12.34 percent. Calbayog City had the highest reported cases with 212.
Biliran province had 416, or 9.86 percent of the total cases in the region, with 142 coming from its capital, Naval town.
Eastern Samar had 283 or 6.70 percent of the total cases with 65 recorded in Guiuan town.
Northern Samar had the lowest number of cases with 270 or 6.40 percent.
Of the total reported cases, DOH-8 noted that 3,684 cases or 87 percent were hospitalized.
Molon added that dengue cases in the region ranged from ages eight months to 91 years old, and 52 percent, or 2,195, were male.
Meanwhile, despite the total number of cases being 52 percent lower compared to the same period last year, which had 8,797 cases, Molon appealed to the public not to be complacent along with the practice for infection prevention and control measures for coronavirus disease (COVID-19).
"We also need to address the root causes of dengue and practice preventive measures all year round. I urge everyone to remain vigilant and continue to search and destroy mosquito-breeding sites, employ self-protection measures, seek early consultation, and support fogging or spraying only in the hotspot areas where an increase in cases is registered for two consecutive weeks to prevent an impending outbreak,” she urged.