Adherence to minimum public health standards will keep this province untouched by the Delta variant of the coronavirus disease 2019 (Covid-19).

Mountain Province is the lone area in the Cordillera Administrative Region (CAR) that has not been infected by the highly contagious variant.

As of 4 p.m. on Tuesday, it has the lowest number of active Covid-19 cases at 242 out of the more than 7,100 in CAR.

The province has recorded 5,239 Covid-19 cases, 4,902 recoveries, and 95 deaths since 2020,

“So far we have not registered a Delta in Mountain Province and we thank God for that,” Governor Bonifacio Lacwasan Jr. said in Ilocano on the sidelines of the Cordillera Peace Talks 35th anniversary celebration in Mt. Data Hotel on Monday.

“The residents know what they are doing and they have gotten used to the protocols. They continue to observe the health protocols so that we are always ready to protect ourselves from this problem,” he added.

After the first quarter of 2021 when cases surged, Lacwasan said residents learned not to be complacent and to always protect themselves from being infected.

Based on the record of the Provincial Health Office, most of the cases here involved travelers, returning residents, and authorized persons outside residence who go in and out of the province.

Now, non-residents must present both vaccination cards and negative results of reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction tests.

Residents can present either of the two at checkpoints.

Even if cases are manageable, Lacwasan said their temporary treatment and isolation facilities are in place.

“As long as we don’t get hundreds a day, we can accommodate the patients,” he said. (PNA)