The coronavirus disease (COVID-19), as defined by the World Health Organization (WHO), is an infectious disease caused by a newly discovered corona-type virus. It spreads primarily through droplets of saliva or discharge from the nose when an infected person coughs or sneezes. Patients may experience fever, cough, and shortness of breath and may progress to pneumonia and respiratory failure. However, several asymptomatic cases have also been recorded. As of 4 May 2020, a vaccine for the virus has yet to be developed.
The threat of COVID-19 first came to the attention of the country’s health officials on 31 December 2019 as a cluster of pneumonia cases of unknown origin in the city of Wuhan in China. On 30 January 2020, the Philippines recorded its first confirmed case of COVID-19. A State of Public Health Emergency was declared throughout the Philippines through Proclamation No. 922, s. 2020 after the country’s first local transmission was confirmed on 7 March 2020. On 16 March 2020, the government imposed an enhanced community quarantine (ECQ) over the entire Luzon through Proclamation No. 929, s. 2020. Thereafter, Eastern Visayas followed suit through executive orders from the different local government units (LGUs). The Provinces of Biliran and Southern Leyte implemented restrictions on 17 March 2020 through Executive Order 18, s. 2020 and Executive Order No. 21, s. 2020, respectively. The Province of Leyte was placed under general community quarantine (GCQ) effective 18 March 2020 through Executive Order No. 4, s. 2020; the Provinces of Samar and Northern Samar on 19 March 2020 through Executive Order No. 17 and Executive Order No. 01-03-20, respectively; and the Province of Eastern Samar on 22 March 2020 through Executive Order No. 03- 015, s. 2020. The primary objective of the ECQ is to flatten the curve, referring to the projected number of people who will contract the disease over a period of time.
The region registered its first confirmed case on 23 March 2020. The patient travelled to Japan and Greenhills, San Juan before arriving in Northern Samar on 4 March 2020, which is 13 days prior to the implementation of the ECQ in the region. The first local transmission in Eastern Visayas was recorded on 7 April 2020 in Tarangnan, Samar after two (2) health workers who came in contact with the region’s 2nd confirmed case tested positive for the virus. As of 14 May 2020, the region has 20 confirmed cases, four (4) of which have fully recovered while 16 are still under 14 days observation. The majority of those positive for the virus originated from Tarangnan, Samar. Meanwhile, the number of suspected cases is densely concentrated within the Leyte-Samar-Northern Samar corridor