A total of 6,945 residents of Negros Occidental were able to return home while the province has been placed under various community quarantine levels from March 30 to June 30.
Of the number, 5,493 were locally stranded individuals (LSIs) from various parts of the country while 1,452 were overseas Filipino workers (OFWs) who traveled either from Metro Manila or Cebu after arriving in the Philippines.
The figures were released by Governor Eugenio Lacson as part of his State of the Province Address during the session of the Provincial Board presided by Vice-Governor Jeffrey Ferrer at the Capitol Social Hall on Tuesday afternoon.
“Covid-19 came quickly and with such intensity that both first-world nations and developing countries were just as disconcerted and afraid. However, the government as an institution must remain strong, responsive, and more efficient than ever,” Lacson said.
The assistance to returning Negrenses was carried out by the Humanitarian Response Cluster with Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) for Covid-19.
Aside from accommodating returning Negrenses who traveled by sea, the provincial government also organized sweeper flights from Manila and Clark.
Other actions included transport of patients from local government units to quarantine facilities or hospitals; provision of logistical support to the PIMT operations section; conduct of training on Emergency First Responders and Community First Responders Course, and Incident Command System.
The provincial government also established a control panel of the Covid-19 Monitoring System, profiled returning residents and set up online registration for stranded Negrenses, and consolidated the Negros Occidental Covid-19 Recovery Plan 2020-2023.
Negros Occidental also participated in the Western Visayas Cluster Meeting with the National Economic Development Authority-6 of the Regional Disaster Risk Reduction and Management Council for the preparation of rehabilitation and recovery plan on Covid-19 and the drafting of a unified plan for the region’s economic recovery.
As of Tuesday, Negros Occidental, which is under modified general community quarantine, has 118 confirmed cases, of which 26 have recovered.
The Provincial Health Office is still actively monitoring 4,830 persons, including 4,118 in LGUs and 712 in provincial quarantine facilities. (Nanette Guadalquiver)