By Baguio City observes decline in cases in the first half of February
Baguio has seen a decline in the number of COVID-19 cases in the city. The latest three-day data gathered from February 13-15, 2022, showed a sharp decline in the number of new cases in Baguio City. During the first week of February, it was noticed, based on available data, that the case has declined from a high number of daily cases that started on January 7, 2022.
Daily new cases from January 1 – February 15, 2022
The Responsible Variant
In 2021, when Baguio City experienced a surge in the number of cases, the Delta variant was said to be the main variant that caused the surge. The latest surge of cases is said to be from the Omicron variant of COVID-19.
The surge and hopefully the only surge of 2022 in Baguio City was first noticed on January 7, 2022, as the number of cases jumped from 52 during the previous day to 155, since then the daily number of cases continued to increase even reaching its peak of recorded 725 cases in a single day on January 20, 2022.
Government measures
In order to combat the latest surge, Baguio City was placed under alert level 3, and entry to the city most especially by tourists was given further restrictions. Such added restriction was implemented by requiring a negative RT-PCR test result prior to entry. Curfew hours and liquor bans were also implemented by the city government. In addition, the City Government continued with the vaccination program. The city government and the department of health collaborated with local pharmacies to launch the “Resbakuna sa Botika”. This is a vaccination drive at participating pharmacies such as Watsons and Mercury Drugs, to help administer the COVID-19 vaccines to the general public.
Significant Decrease of Cases in Baguio City
The decline in the number of daily cases was observed, based on available data, on January 30, 2022, with only 196 new cases compared to the previous day with 413. Since then, the daily number of cases has dropped to less than one hundred with the exemption of February 3, 5, and 8, 2022 with 126, 118, and 123 new cases respectively.
Due to the decline in the number of cases Baguio City was recently classified under alert level 2. Among the salient points in the guidelines is the lifting of the liquor ban and curfew.
Related Article: Baguio City Alert Level 2 Guidelines
The lowering of the Alert level and the decline in the number of daily cases is not a signal to be complacent. The public is still reminded to always practice minimum public health standards.
