Covid cases in Northern Luzon provinces rise

By Raymund Catindig

Several provinces in Northern Luzon have recorded a surge in coronavirus disease 2019 or COVID-19 cases.

The Department of Health said 17 cases were recorded in La Union Monday.

Eight of the cases are from Caba, five in San Fernando and one each in Aringay, Bauang, Balaoan and San Juan.

A 14-year-old boy from Aringay is the youngest patient while the oldest was a 64-year-old woman from Caba.

Caba Mayor Philip Cesar Crispino placed six villages in the town, where the highest number of cases was recorded, under lockdown.

La Union now has 46 cases, 21 of them active.

In Cagayan Valley, the number of confirmed cases rose to 206, with 16 cases added yesterday.

Tuguegarao City recorded two cases while Solana, Peñablanca, Tuao, Camalaniugan and Iguig, all in Cagayan province, logged one each.

Six construction workers, all residents of Ilagan City in Isabela, also tested positive for COVID-19.

Kasibu, Alfonso Castañeda and Dupax del Norte  towns in Nueva Vizcaya recorded one case each.

The number of confirmed cases in Baguio City is now 10 after two were recorded yesterday.

Mountain Province recorded its second case on Thursday night.

The provincial health office said the patient traveled to Manila on July 8 to process his travel documents to work as a seafarer.

Contact tracing in Samoki, Bontoc is ongoing.

In Pangasinan, three cases were recorded yesterday. The province now has 134 confirmed cases.

Meanwhile, Bulacan Vice Gov. Wilhelmino Sy Alvarado confirmed that 12 inmates and six personnel of the Criminal Investigation and Detection Group (CIDG) office in the province tested positive for the virus.

The CIDG office has been on lockdown since Thursday.

Alvarado said the public attorney’s office aside from the dialysis center of the Bulacan Medical Center were  on lockdown after some personnel were infected.

The three government offices are in the premises of the provincial capitol compound.

Bulacan reported 18 new cases on Thursday, bringing the number of confirmed cases to 763. -- Ramon Efren Lazaro, Eva Visperas, Cesar Ramirez