ILOILO CITY—The surge of COVID-19 cases in Iloilo City can be traced to returning residents.
Dr. Roland Jay Fortuna, chairperson of the Iloilo City government’s COVID-19 team, said that majority of cases recorded in the past two weeks are those residents who came from other areas of the country either from work or vacation.
“Some came from Metro Manila while some came from Boracay Island,” said Fortuna in a press conference Monday, January 17.
Based on that data of the City Epidemiology and Surveillance Office (CESU) of the Iloilo City Health Office, at least 111 returning residents tested positive for COVID-19 from January 1 to January 15.
Of the 111 COVID-19 cases, 49 had travel history from Metro Manila.
At least 30 who vacationed at Boracay Island in Malay town, Aklan province were also infected with COVID-19.
There were also three returning residents with travel history in Pampanga.
Fortuna said the other 21 cases for that time period must be validated.
For the past week, Iloilo City has been recording triple digits of active COVID-19 cases.
The Epidemiology and Surveillance Unit of the Iloilo Health Office also noted there were 177 active COVID-19 cases recorded last January 16 with 62 new cases for that day.