BY DOMINIQUE GABRIEL BANAGA
BACOLOD City – Saying Negros Occidental’s coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) situation is in “good shape,” an official of the provincial government turned against a research team’s monitoring report tagging the province as “high-risk or an “area of concern” for COVID-19.
Negros Occidental was among the local government units (LGUs) flagged in the latest OCTA Research report due to high rates of COVID-19 transmissions.
But Rayfrando Diaz, provincial administrator, quickly dismissed this.
“The number of [COVID-19] cases is dropping. We know what’s happening on the ground. I don’t know what the OCTA was referring to,” Diaz said.
The OCTA report, which is regularly distributed to the media, is generated periodically by an independent research team composed of scholars from the University of the Philippines, the University of Santo Tomas and United States-based Providence College.
The research lists LGUs of concern or high-risk areas based on high cases per day, high positivity rate, high attack rate, and/or high hospital occupancy.
As of Dec. 2, Negros Occidental had 32 new cases, based on the data released by the Department of Health Region 6.
On Dec. 1, the province logged 47 new cases; Nov. 30 (77); Nov. 29 (91); Nov. 28 (52); Nov. 27 (15); and Nov. 26 (10).
“It is not out of control. They have to understand that it is the whole province. Before, we reached more than 100 (new) cases, still we were classified under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ),” Diaz said.
Negros Occidental, comprised of 19 municipalities and 12 cities, excluding the highly urbanized city of Bacolod, had been placed under MGCQ since June 1.
On Nov. 26, Diaz was informed by Director Juan Jovian Ingeniero of the Department of Interior and Local Government (DILG) Region 6 about the agency’s recommended quarantine classification for NegOcc.
“It’s clear that based on the data of the DILG, Negros Occidental is still under MGCQ. That is the correct quarantine classification for us,” he added.
Diaz acknowledged that there are more cases in some cities considered as “melting pots”, where business and commerce activities are high, such as Kabankalan, Cadiz, Sagay, and San Carlos.
“(Through) our prompt action, we were able to identify and isolate the positive cases immediately. So I don’t think that OCTA has a proper ground in challenging the DILG recommendation for Negros Occidental,” he said.
The barometer is the hospitals, according to Diaz.
“Our COVID-19 hospitals are almost empty. The Mambukal Resort Healing Center has zero occupants,” Diaz said. (With PNA/PN)
