BY ADRIAN P. NEMES III
Bacolod City cannot be elevated to a higher quarantine status, as of the moment, executive director Em Ang of the Emergency Operations Center, said yesterday.
Ang said that Mayor Evelio Leonardia met with the directors of the seven hospitals in Bacolod and he reiterated that they need to find doable solutions amid the rising Covid cases.
Ang emphasized that although the number of cases in Bacolod is high, the average daily attacks and the two-week growth rates of the infection did not qualify for the parameter gates of the National Inter-Agency Task Force.
This is the reason why the NIATF did not elevate the quarantine status of Bacolod, she said, adding that what the people need to do, instead, is to discipline themselves and follow the health protocols.
The Philippine College of Physicians Negros Occidental Chapter had earlier appealed for stricter quarantine status for two weeks to deter the further spread of Covid-19 in the province and the city.
Ang noted that even Iloilo City, that is now entering its third week under the stricter Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine, continues to have high Covid infection.
It only goes to show that even if the city is under strict quarantine status, if the people continue to defy health and safety protocol orders, then it’s useless, she said.
VACCINATION SUSPENSION
The vaccination rollout at the SMX Convention Center today will be temporarily suspended and will resume tomorrow, while the inoculation at the Ayala Malls Capitol Central will continue.
There are also scheduled inoculations at the Villa Valderama and Palisades subdivisions today, Ang said.
She said that it seems the vaccination acceptance in Bacolod has already increased, although no recent data was provided since the EOC had not conducted a survey lately.
As of June 15, the EOC said 45,494 doses had been utilized in the inoculation of Bacolodnons, with 35,835 getting their first jabs while 9,659 have completed their second dosage.
The current inoculation in Bacolod is only for those who belong to categories A1 or medical frontliners, A2 – senior citizens, and A3 or adults with existing medical conditions.
There are no guidelines yet for the vaccination of essential workers, or those under category A4. Those who did not show up during their scheduled vaccination will be replaced by Bacolodnons in the quick substitution list.*
