BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BAÑAGA
BACOLOD City – Bed vacancies in provincial government-run hospitals in Negros Occidental are not overwhelmed with coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) patients in what Provincial Administrator Rayfrando Diaz believed could be a sign that the vaccines against the viral disease are working.
The province had roughly vaccinated only 10 percent of its total target population of 1.4 million, he said.
Citing data from the province’s One Hospital Command System, Diaz noted that the Teresita Jalandoni Provincial Hospital in Silay City had 116 occupied beds, while 82 remained vacant.
The Lorenzo Zayco Hospital in Kabankalan City, meanwhile, reported 71 beds occupied, followed by Cadiz City District Hospital with 17 beds occupied; Valladolid District Hospital with 15; Valerian Gatuslao Hospital in Himamaylan City with 26; and Merceditas Hospital in Sipalay City with only one bed occupied.
Most of the patients in the hospitals were not COVID-19 cases, Diaz stressed.
He also pointed out that the number of new infections was steadily dropping.
“Our situation is far better compared to other provinces having high cases of COVID-19,” he said.
The provincial administrator, however, advised residents not to be complacent as new variants of the virus causing COVID-19 have recently been detected in Negros Occidental.
As of Aug. 4, Negros Occidental had 1,109 active COVID-19 cases.
Total cases since March of 2020 now stood at 21,548 with 19,886 recoveries and 553 deaths./PN
