Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran, chairman of Bacolod City Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF), said the city has recorded a decline in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) infections this week.

The Department of Health (DOH) in Western Visayas reported that on the same day, Bacolod City had a total of 22, 898 Covid-19 cases.

Of the number, 1, 617 active cases.

On the same day, the city logged 27 new cases with a 23 percent positivity rate or 14.42 percent average daily attack rate.

Bacolod City was also classified under moderate risk or Alert Level 4 in terms of Covid-19 transmission.

Familiaran said on October 25, the city recorded 62 new cases with one death and another 66 new cases and one death on the following day.

“We are hopeful that we can sustain the decline of infections this week,” he said, adding that the city government had intensified its vaccination program including the house-to-house vaccination campaign in various barangays.

The intensified house-to-house vaccination drive involves the city's VAX-i mobile buses.

As of October 24, Bacolod City has inoculated a total of 219, 022 residents. Of the number, 169, 965 are already fully vaccinated.

The Negros Occidental capital city has a target population of 424,992 to be inoculated against Covid-19.

The city government earlier announced that will officially launch the Covid-19 vaccination program for minors with comorbidities at the Riverside Medical Center today, October 29.

It is a region-wide launching to be led by the DOH.

In Bacolod City alone, about 100 minors under the Pediatric A3 priority group, or persons aged 12 to 17 years-old with comorbidities, are expected to be inoculated during the launching.

Under the DOH guidelines, the Pediatric A3 vaccination will focus on minors whose comorbidities include human immunodeficiency virus (HIV), cancer, with Down syndrome and tuberculosis, among others.

Mayor Evelio Leonardia earlier said the goal of the city is to make the vaccination program more accessible to everyone so that Bacolod will achieve herd immunity and control the Covid-19 spread.*