DUE to the surge in coronavirus disease (Covid-19) cases in Bacolod City, the local government has to reopen two additional quarantine facilities to accommodate the rising number of patients, an official said.
City Administrator Em Ang, executive director of the Emergency Operations Center (EOC), said they had to reopen the two facilities as the existing ones have already reached full capacity.
Aside from the public schools, she said, they are also processing the accreditation of additional hospitals for hospital-supervised home isolation for asymptomatic, mild, or moderate cases of Covid-19.
As of Tuesday night, September 14, Bacolod City has a total of 17,981 Covid-19 cases and 16,120 of which have recuperated, while 411 died.
Ang said the city earlier recorded nine additional Delta variant cases and it was a big factor in the rise of Covid-19 infections in the city.
Councilor Renecito Novero, chairman of the city’s quarantine center action team, said they already inspected the Handumanan National High School, while the Handumanan Elementary School is now operational as a quarantine facility.
“If our Covid-19 cases continue to increase, which I hope not, we will reopen other schools that were recently used as quarantine facilities,” he said.
Novero said that the city earlier opened about 20 public schools as quarantine facilities, but only five are currently utilized.
They previously closed some of the quarantine facilities when the city recorded single-digit Covid-19 cases, he added.
Mayor Evelio Leonardia also earlier expressed alarm over the significant rise in the number of infections for the past five consecutive days, adding that the city is now back with three-digit figures of daily cases.
Meanwhile, the City Government launched its fifth "VAX-i" bus in partnership with Vallacar Transit Inc. (VTI) at the Ceres North Terminal on Monday, September 13.
The fifth “VAX-I” bus is the third vehicle provided for the City Government’s use by the VTI, operator of Ceres buses, headed by its president and chief executive officer Leo Rey Yanson.
The other bus was provided by Merzci Pasalubong Center of businessman Jonathan Lo, while the city’s tourist bus was repurposed as the first “VAX-i.”
“VAX-I” is one of the innovations introduced by EOC and the Covid-19 Vaccination Council (CoVaC) to boost the inoculation capacity of the city government.
The ceremony was graced by Leonardia and Ang along with Councilor Cindy Rojas, who is in-charge of the Non-Overseas Filipino Workers Returning Residents, EOC Deputy Director Dr. Chris Sorongon, VTI vice president for administration lawyer Julius Entila, the firm’s company physician Dr. Lynon Escoton, and former councilor Roberto Rojas.
“This (VAX-i) is another way to accelerate our vaccination program. We have to search for them (vaccinees). If our citizens cannot go to our vaccination center, our vaccination center -- through the VAX-i buses -- will go to them,” Leonardia said.
“VAX-I” buses drive around Bacolod, with doctors, nurses, and other healthcare workers on board, who administer Covid-19 vaccines to workers in the marginalized sectors.
Ang also commended the VTI for the assistance they had provided to the City Government during this pandemic, as well as the frontliners and volunteers of the city's vaccination program.
Entila, in response, said that, “when a partner calls, a partner answers (and since) the city asked for support, we answered. We will help Bacolod City in any way we can.”
Entila also expressed gratitude to the city government for allowing their company to be a part of the solution.
“I hope our economy recovers. The Covid problem is everybody’s problem. Let's do our part because once our city recovers, so will we,” he said. (With reports from Bacolod PIO)