That was how Negros Occidental Health Officer Dr. Ernel Tumimbang described the sudden spike in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in the province.
Tumimbang, however, said the province remains free from the highly contagious Omicron variant of Sars-CoV-2 virus, which causes Covid-19.
Provincial Health Office (PHO) data showed that from January 9, 2022, over 80 percent of the new infections are from locally stranded individuals (LSIs) who just arrived in the province, while the rest are local cases.
Negros Occidental has started imposing rapid antigen testing for all travelers arriving at the Bacolod-Silay Airport in Silay City and Bredco Port in Bacolod City originating from areas under Alert Level 3.
Since January 6, at least 220 travelers were found reactive during the rapid antigen test, while 120 later tested positive for Covid-19 after undergoing reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) confirmatory tests.
Majority of the travelers were also noted to be asymptomatic, reports showed.
Tumimbang said it is possible that a lot of travelers whom they suspect to be “reactive” could have already entered the province in December 2021.
“Yes this is alarming, because coming from eight cases, (we) went up to 100 plus, in just a matter of days,” Tumimbang said.
The Department of Health-Western Visayas reported three-digit additional confirmed Covid-19 cases Monday, January 10, at 105.
Of the number, 56 were LSIs, 48 were local cases, and one was a returning overseas Filipino (ROF).
The province now has 681 active Covid-19 cases, the agency said, adding that on January 8 and 9, it logged a total of 31 new cases only.
Tumimbang said with the increase of new cases, the PHO is now checking if there is also a rise in the hospitalization rate in the province.
Negros Occidental reported no Covid-19 fatalities in the recent days. (With reports from Erwin P. Nicavera)
