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MANILA - Aklan's health care utilization rate has reached critical level, Governor Florencio Miraflores said Wednesday, adding that half of those who tested for COVID-19 infection turned out positive.

The province's COVID-19 referral center, its 300-bed capacity provincial hospital, has "more than 80 percent" occupancy rate, the governor said.

Aklan's positivity rate, or the number of people taking a COVID-19 test that turn out positive, is at 40 to 50 percent, while its daily attack rate is at 30 percent, Miraflores added.

The province has recorded a case of the Beta variant but has yet to detect a Delta infection, according to the governor. The virus surge began in May, he said.

"'Yun kasi ang aming hinala. Baka nakapasok na rito ang Delta variant kaya halos buong pamilya po ang tinatamaan. Once ang isang member ng family tamaan, most of the time the whole family is infected," he told ABS-CBN's Teleradyo.

(That's our suspicion, that the Delta variant has entered the province, which is why nearly a whole family is infected with COVID-19. Once one member is infected, most of the time the whole family is infected.)

"We have to expect magkakaroon din kami dito. Kasi ang unang Delta variant na lumabas sa Panay, sa Pandan, Antique ay boundary ho namin yan. We’re just waiting for results."

(We have to expect we'll also record a case here because the first Delta variant detected in Panay was found in Pandan town, Antique, which is our boundary.)

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The province has again implemented curfews and quarantine restrictions and required travel passes. Granular lockdowns will be enforced once COVID-19 is detected within a household, Miraflores said.

It has been placed under modified enhanced community quarantine, the second strictest in a 4-step lockdown, from August 1 to 15.

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Those under lockdown receive food packs from the local government, he added.

Aklan has 1,119 active COVID-19 cases out of a total 8,637 infections as of Tuesday, according to the Department of Health.

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