THE two-week enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over Laguna province in the month of August – which was downgraded to modified ECQ two weeks later – should have, by the logical assumptions of health experts, brought down Covid-19 cases in the province.
But the data now shows a stunning paradox: at a time when fewer people should be out on the streets, Covid-19 cases are rising at an alarming rate.
From 5,471 active cases reported in August 19, active Covid-19 cases in Laguna province have risen to 7,107 cases as of August 26 (based on data from the Department of Health).
Even our province’s top officials have not been spared from the virus. This week, Governor Ramil Hernandez and his wife, 2nd District Representative Ruth Mariano Hernandez, turned positive for Covid-19.
This points to the grim conclusion the Department of Health (DOH) has belatedly admitted this week: that there are now cases of community transmission of the more contagious Delta variant in the province.
Add to this the reports received by OpinYon Laguna that in some areas of the province, health protocols are now being willfully disregarded.
The excuse most people say are that they are already fully vaccinated and thus does not see the need to continue following health protocols.
We know we’re sounding like a broken record, but with the circumstantial evidence that the Delta variant – which can transmit to people who had even brief contact with the infected person, according to medical experts – there is no time for complacency.
This also goes to people who are now fully vaccinated against Covid-19, who can still carry the virus and pass it along to non-vaccinated people.
In this critical moment, we should never let our guard down against the virus.