There are now seven out of 31 local government units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental under Alert Level 1 from May 1 to 15.
Bacolod City also remains under Alert Level 1.
The Inter-Agency Task Force added Candoni to the six other LGUs under Alert Level 1, Acting Presidential Spokesman Martin Andanar announced Friday, April 29.
The rest on Negros Occidental remains under Alert Level 2, he added.
Candoni joins the cities of Sagay, La Carlota and Victorias, and the municipalities of EB Magalona, Pulupandan and San Enrique under Alert Level 1, Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said.
Aklan, Capiz, Guimaras, Iloilo Province and Iloilo City are also under Alert Level 1, Andanar said.
Amlan in Negros Oriental is under Alert Level 1, while the rest of the province in under Alert Level 2, he added.
Lacson stressed the need to continue to practice health protocols, especially the wearing of masks, to prevent a COVID-19 resurgence.
Active COVID-19 cases in Negros Occidental were down to 11 on Thursday.
The Department of Health (DOH) on Wednesday, April 27, reported the country’s first case of Omicron BA.2.12, a subvariant of the highly transmissible Omicron variant.
The carrier of the subvariant was a Finnish national who had visited Quezon and Baguio cities, the DOH said.
The subvariant is more transmissible but is said to cause a milder version of COVID-19, Lacson said.*