Bacolod City – Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson doesn’t appear to be keen on supporting the putting up of restrictions, in the face of rising COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental, although he strongly encourages the continued use of face masks.
Otherwise, if the trend continues to go up, maybe an executive order will be needed, Lacson said, apparently referring to rising cases of infections.
Highly urbanized Bacolod City has 44 COVID-19 cases, with 16 recoveries and one death, while Negros Occidental logged 74 cases, as of April 24, with 11 new cases logged that day.
The City Disaster Risk Reduction Management Office also logged nine COVID-19 related deaths from January to April this year in Bacolod City, with most victims reported as unvaccinated individuals.
This developed as Mayor Alfredo Abelardo “Albee” Benitez ordered a mandatory wearing of face masks in public transportation as a deterrent against the spread of COVID-19 in Bacolod City.
Lacson suggested to unvaccinated individuals to “limit their travel,” stressing that unvaccinated persons have been dying due to COVID-19.
Bacolod City remains under COVID-19 Alert Level 1, while Negros Occidental remains under Alert Level 2, as categorized by the Inter Agency Task Force.
Alert Level 1, the most lenient classification, imposes no restrictions in terms of indoor and outdoor gathering capacities.
Dr. Anna Maria Laarni Pornan, CDRRMO head, attributed the recent increase in cases to more face to face activities, with face masks no longer being worn by many.
Regarding Negros Occidental being under Alert Level 2, Lacson said “that means a 50 percent capacity indoor and 70 percent capacity outdoors.”
As much as possible, let’s avoid putting restrictions, the governor said, noting its implications to the economy, as experienced by the people for almost three years.
As of this time, Lacson, however, said that the COVID-19 situation of Negros Occidental remains “manageable,” stressing that there is no need to set up quarantine facilities.
Lacson also admitted that the provincial government has low supply of COVID-19 vaccines left, and is already running out vaccines for booster shots.
He also raised the possibility that the national government may no longer continue to subsidize local government units with vaccines.
“I’m afraid that later on it will be to each his own. Every individual will take care of themselves. Sayang, before we’ve been calling out and there are still LGUs who have low turnout,” he said. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)