BY GILBERT P. BAYORAN
The Victorias City Hall and its annexed buildings and offices will be temporary closed, from May 4 to 7, for disinfection and contact tracing purposes, after 21 of its employees tested positive for Covid-19, City Administrator Dino Acuna said yesterday.
For May 3 alone, Acuna said Victorias City had a record-high of 37 new active cases, all local transmissions, bringing to 85 the total active infections in the city.
Acuna said that a suspected “spreader” of Covid-19 had died.
The Victorias City Health Office also reported 13 deaths, out of 544 confirmed cases. Six Covid-19 patients, meanwhile, have already recovered, bringing to 446 the total number of recoveries.
Palanca, in the executive order he issued for the temporary closure of the Victorias City Hall, advised all employees to strictly stay at home, and adopt a work from home arrangement.
He also postponed the scheduled payout to flash flood affected families in Victorias City, until further notice, to give way to the thorough disinfection procedure based on the guidelines and protocols set by the Department of Health, and for the contact tracing and swabbing of city employees.
With the recent arrival of 411 doses of Sinovac vaccines in Victorias City, Palanca also got his first shot, along with about 100 residents.
Seventy-eight staff members of the CHO already completed their Covid vaccination. Twenty-two senior citizens got their first dose, and other frontliners will be vaccinated today.*
