22 Bacolod villages still have Covid-19 cases

TWENTY-TWO of the 61 barangays in Bacolod City still have active cases of coronavirus disease (Covid-19), said Dr. Chris Sorongon, deputy for medical data and analysis of the Emergency Operations Center-Task Force (EOC-TF).

Sorongon on Monday, March 22, 2021, said Bacolodnons should not be complacent because 22 barangays still have cases of Covid-19, while 39 barangays are Covid-free.

“In previous months, we only had 10 barangays with Covid-19 cases and it’s now 22,” he said.

He added barangay officials were already reminded to strictly enforce minimum health protocols on isolation and quarantine and to focus on their information dissemination through the barangay health emergency response teams (Bherts).

On March 17, the Department of Health (DOH)-Western Visayas had reported 25 new cases of Covid-19 in Bacolod. This was the highest so far in a long time, specifically since the last week of November 2020.

The last highest number of new positive cases in the city in a day was recorded on November 21, 2020, at 28 cases.

New Covid-19 cases continued to slide down since then.

The city had been noted to have a single-digit number of additional cases almost every day since January this year.

Sorongon said most of the new confirmed cases were close contacts, authorized persons outside residence and locally stranded individuals.

He said Bherts were also conducting house-to-house campaigns within their barangays for the vaccination and the enforcement of minimum health protocols.

“We appeal to our constituents to tell the truth, if they are not feeling well they should see a doctor or visit the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient (BRO) Center in Bacolod Arts, Youth and Sports (Bays) Center,” he added.

Soronong said those who have Covid-19 symptoms such as fever and headache, among others, can visit the BRO Center for a consultation or call the Emergency Operations Center hotline 432-2749.

Meanwhile, Sorongon reiterated that the City Government is still requiring negative reverse transcription-polymerase chain reaction (RT-PCR) test results for travelers coming from outside Western Visayas entering the city.

He said the travel between the cities of Bacolod and Iloilo remained unhampered.