NAGA CITY – The province of Camarines Sur has become the latest local government unit to declare a state of calamity over the increasing number of dengue fever cases in the Bicol region.

Provincial Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council Chairman and Gov. Luis Raymund “LRay” Villafuerte made the declaration public at the command conference against dengue at the Digital Transformation Center in Pili, the capital of Camarines Sur, on Monday, 28 September.

On Sunday, 27 September, Villafuerte reported on his social media that the province recorded 1,233 cases of dengue, with 18 deaths, as of 24 September.

Last week, the Environment, Disaster Management and Emergency Response Office (EDMERO) of Camarines Sur started its monitoring and assessment in several localities in the province through the Provincial Dengue Task Force, which was formed specifically to look for transmission hotspots, check capacity of hospitals to accommodate patients, form new strategies, and strengthen the vector control of communities to help curb the rise in dengue cases.

The province of Albay declared a state of calamity on 10 September after its number of cases rose to over 1,000. On 20 September, the cumulative cases of the province hit 2,888, with 15 deaths.

Naga City also raised a state of calamity declaration on 8 September after cases rose to over 200. As of 17 September, the city recorded around 600 cases of the mosquito-borne disease, with eight deaths.