The province of Negros Oriental has recorded 36 new recoveries from the coronavirus disease 2019 over the weekend.
Assistant Provincial Health officer, Dr. Liland Estacion, health committee chair of the province’s Inter-Agency Task Force for the Management of Emerging Infectious Diseases, in a virtual press briefing yesterday afternoon, said her office received 595 swab test results from Feb. 12 to 14 from different laboratories in Cebu City and Negros Oriental.
Of the number, 558 were negative with 36 recoveries, 29 were new positives, and eight were repeat positives, Estacion said.
The new cases are from Guihulngan City and Bayawan City with seven each, Dumaguete – 5, Bacong – 3, Sibulan and Sta. Catalina – 2 each, and Amlan, Ayungon, and Bindoy – 1 each.
The new recoveries are from Dumaguete City with 15, Sibulan – 7, Bayawan City – 5, Valencia and Bais City – 2 each, and Zamboanguita, Ayungon, Bacong, Basay, and Sta. Catalina – 1 each.
Two new deaths were reported in the province, a 74-year-old-male from Sibulan and a 50-year-old-female from Dumaguete.
As of yesterday, the total caseload of Negros Oriental was 1,611, with 1,394 recoveries, 167 active cases, and 50 mortalities, Estacion said.
Estacion has also urged local government units and hospitals in the province to start coming up with a masterlist of the target priority individuals for the nationwide vaccination program.
She said the master listing is composed of the target population for category A that includes frontline health workers, both public and private, the indigent sector, senior citizens, uniformed personnel, and persons with comorbidities.
A Covid-19 online registration is also set up to process the master listing where all information will be provided for an individual to decide or give consent for vaccination, she explained.
In a provincial IATF meeting, Estacion said that Pfizer, BioNTech, and AstraZeneca vaccines are now approved by the Food and Drug Administration, and preparations are ongoing to ensure the smooth and efficient distribution once the vaccines are delivered, a governemnt press release said.
The LGUs and private companies are allowed to purchase the vaccines. However, they need to go through the national government or under the tripartite agreement between the national government, LGUs, and the vaccine company, she added. The provinces of Negros Oriental and Siquijor have already held trainings for the national vaccination program.*PNA
