The Iloilo provincial government has no reason to declare state of calamity due to dengue, Gov. Arthur Defensor said.
Defensor based his decision on data from the Hospital Management Office (HMO) that showed the decreasing incidence and prevalence of dengue in the province.
Last week, the towns of Sta. Barbara and Estancia were placed under a state of calamity due to high number of dengue cases.
Sta. Barbara saw the highest cases of dengue in the province with 728 victims, three of whom died, while Estancia ranked eight with 276 cases and one death.
“We still have to look at the morbidity report next week, to see if there will be basis to declare the whole province under state of calamity,” said Raul Banias, provincial administrator and chief of the HMO.
“However, so far, the pattern of the incidence and prevalence is going down compared to the last three weeks when the cases continuously increased,” Banias added.
As of September 10, Iloilo recorded 6,808 dengue cases. However, he said, 6,793 of those patients have recovered.
Banias reported that only about 200 dengue patients have been admitted to district hospitals.
Although the district hospitals have high occupancy rates, only 10-15 percent of admitted patients have dengue. Most of the patients have respiratory tract inspection, pneumonia and intestinal diseases, he said.