Negros Occidental has logged a zero COVID-19 cases again, as cases further reduced to eight as of April 18, records of the Provincial Incident Management Team show.
PIMT also reported eight recoveries.
Six of the 31 towns and cities of Negros Occidental, including cities of Sagay, Victorias and La Carlota, as well as municipalities of EB Magalona, Pulupandan and San Enrique have been placed under Alert Level 1 from April 16 to 30.
Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said he is hoping that it will motivate other LGUs to do better, stressing that all they need is to improve their vaccination rate.
The Department of Health (DOH) has warned of a possible spike in COVID-19 cases in the middle of May if Filipinos continue to disregard health protocols, saying it could reach as high as 300,000 active cases in the middle of May.
Meanwhile, Metro Manila alone could have 25,000 to 60,000 daily new cases — triple the number of active cases during the Omicron wave, DOH said.
“It’s scary,” Lacson said.
The thing is, Lacson said “we have not remiss our duty to inform the people of protecting themselves.”
He admitted that it is very difficult to maintain physical distancing during the election period.
As of April 16, the Provincial Health Office reported that there are 1,280,654 Negrosanons who have been fully vaccinated, which represents 61.03 percent from the target population of 2,098,421.
Another 106,046 Negrenses are due for second dose, which will further increase to 66.08 percent of the total target if they are vaccinated.
PHO and the different City and Municipal Health Offices have still to vaccinate 711,721 Negrenses to achieve its target to inoculate 80 percent of the entire Negros Occidental population, excluding the highly-urbanized Bacolod City. (Gilbert Bayoran via The Visayan Daily Star (TVDS), photo courtesy of TVDS)