Bohol on Tuesday recorded 11 more new COVID-19 cases, sustaining the sudden surge of infections in the province in the past week.

The total number of active cases in the province has skyrocketed from 29 on Tuesday last week to 144 today.

According to Bohol Inter-Agency Task Force spokesperson Dr. Yul Lopez, all new cases included locally stranded individuals (LSIs) and overseas Filipino workers (OFW).

The new cases involved five LSIs and three OFWs from Jagna, two OFWs from Alicia and one LSI from Carmen.

“Kining mga bag-ong kaso, sukad pa pag-abot na kwarantina na kini sila ug gipahigayon nalang ang strict isolation hantod makita ang clearance niini,” Lopez said.

All of them were asymptomatic, he added.

According to Lopez, 45 of the 144 active cases in the province were identified as local transmissions while the rest were LSIs, OFWs and authorized personnel outside of residence.

The BIATF mouthpiece who is also the province’s assistant health officer said that municipal mayors and doctors conducted an emergency meeting on Sunday amid the sudden spike in cases.

The officials pinpointed complacency among the public as one of the main reasons for the sudden and rapid spread of the disease.

“Ang dakong hinungdan sa pagsaka sa kaso kini bang pag kompyansa g’yud sa mga katawhan, makalabay ka, ma-obersbar g’yud na duna nay pagtapok-tapok, duna nay pagkalimot sa face mask, paghimo og mga party, mga kalihukan na daghang taw na mag sandurot unya okasyon kana na makatakod,” Lopez said.

Lopez reminded the public to continue following health protocols to help contain the spread of the highly contagious virus.

Practicing social distancing and wearing of facemasks will go a long way in preventing the outbreak from escalating, he said.

“Sukad na dunay mga kaso na local transmission in Bohol ato na ning gipahibaw na anaa na g’yud sa atong tagsa-tagsa ka mga komunidad ang virus, so anaa nalang nato sa tagsa-tagsa ang pagdisiplina. Everyone should abide with the minimum health protocol,” he added. (A. Doydora)