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Photo courtesy of Frank CarbonThe business community in Bacolod City is calling on the local government to put “more effort” into its recovery action plan to stimulate economic activities.Frank Carbon, Metro Bacolod Chamber of Commerce and Industry chief executive officer, said they sought a meeting with the city officials “to ask for an update on where we are in the economic recovery effort and what has been done.”But during the meeting on Wednesday, October 21, it was lawyer John Orola, the city’s special consultant on trade and investment, along with lawyer Jesus Hinlo Jr., Land Bank of the Philippines director, who talked with the business community.The city government was supposed to update the business community on its economic recovery plan, but the latter ended up p...

BY CARLA GOMEZCapitol file photoThe Philippine Coast Guard has been instructed not to allow migratory workers to board vessels for Negros Occidental without prior coordination with the provincial government to ensure that they undergo COVID-19 tests, Zeaphard Gerhart Caelian, Provincial Disaster Management Program Division chief, said yesterday.There are 1,808 migratory workers from Antique who have recently arrived in Negros Occidental for the harvest season, eight of whom were found to be COVID -19 positive, he said.The majority of the migratory workers, , also known as sacadas, work as cane cutters in Negros Occidental that is the top producer of sugarcane in the country.They are swabbed for COVID-19 tests on arrival in Negros Occidental and quarantined in farm quar...

Another 48 residents of Victorias City were swabbed Thursday, October 22, at Victorias Elementary School in Victorias City by a combined team of healthcare frontliners of Metro 3rd Emergency Operations Center (EOC) and Victorias Inter-Agency Task Force.*Photos from 3rd District EOC

BY CARLA GOMEZThe Western Visayas Regional Inter-Agency Task Force has approved the suspension of the arrival of Locally Stranded Individuals into two cities in northern Negros Occidental effective today, October 23.Entry of LSIs into Victorias City is suspended until October 30 and to San Carlos City until November 6, RIATF Resolution No. 50 Series of 2020 issued yesterday said.Victorias officials had requested a seven-day moratorium on the entry of returning overseas Filipinos and LSIs to the city to enable them to decongest and disinfect quarantine facilities.San Carlos City made a similar request but asked for a 14-day moratorium.As of Wednesday San Carlos City had 94 active COVID-19 cases and Victorias City had 63.*

Persons showing COVID-19 symptoms are encouraged to seek consultation at the Bacolod Respiratory Outpatient (BRO) Center, instead of going to the City Health Office (CHO), which will no longer accommodate such patients starting Monday, October 26.This new development in the CHO policy aims to prevent other patients, especially pregnant women who often seek consultation at the CHO’s lying-in clinic, from contracting the viral disease, a press release from the Bacolod Information Office said today."In our daily reports, there are always pregnant women who test positive (for COVID-19,” City Administrator Em Ang, executive director and deputy for administration and operations of the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center - Task Force (EOC-TF), said.IATF- Visayas chief implementer...

The city government of San Carlos City has restricted non-essential travel following the reported local transmission of coronavirus in the locality.Mayor Renato Gustilo, in an executive order signed on October 18, said that local transmission was recently reported in the city, and if that trend continues, the local healthcare system might not be able to cater to confirmed positive patients. He added that government and private hospitals have already refused admission of patients due to the influx of Covid-19 positive individuals.He said the Incident Management Team has recommended imposing border restrictions on certain activities and regulation of movement of residents to contain the spread of the virus.In the EO, citizens are enjoined to stay home except for frontliners, esse...

A total of 19 barangays in Bacolod City have been COVID-free for the past 14 days, the locality's Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC-TF) reported on Monday.These barangays are 4, 9, 11, 12, 13, 14, 15, 20, 23, 24, 25, 26, 27, 29, 31, 33, 36, 38, and Punta Taytay, data from the EOC-TF showed.“These barangays should maintain their status and the other barangays should also try to catch up with these COVID-free barangays,” said Mayor Evelio Leonardia, who heads the EOC-TF.According to the mayor, the COVID-fre’ status of 19 out of 61 Bacolod barangays is “something to celebrate” considering the efforts of the city government in containing the pandemic for several months now.*

BY CARLA GOMEZBacolod City’s COVID-19 cases that reached alarming levels in August have been dropping in the past month, and hit a single digit on Tuesday.There were only four new COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City on Tuesday, the Department of Health reported yesterday from three digit levels in August.The Department of Health report said that since the start of the pandemic Bacolod City has had 4,633 cases but as of Tuesday 3,976 or 85.82 percent of those hit by the virus had recovered.The city has 539 active COVID-19 case or 11.63 percent of the confirmed cases, and 118 deaths or 2.55 percent.The total confirmed cases compose .79 percent of Bacolod’s 583,045 population.President Rodrigo Duterte has instructed us to provide all the support needed to curb the a...

Entry of untruthful data in the Case Investigation Form (CIF), which is required for swab tests, is prohibited under the law, said Inter-Agency Task Force (IATF)- Visayas chief implementer Mel Feliciano, who oversees the Bacolod City Emergency Operations Center Task Force (EOC-TF).This after a man, who tested positive for COVID-19 on October 14, was found to have entered false information in the CIF.The man declared in the CIF that his current address is Bacolod City despite presently residing in Silay City, Negros Occidental.“It took over a day for the contact tracers to locate the index but due to our collaboration with the Provincial Health Emergency Operations Center and other cities and municipalities, the truth came out,” said EOC deputy for medical Dr. Chris Sorongon....

Two business establishments, Watson's Pharmacy and Chefs and Bakers, have opened their branches in Cadiz City.Watson's Pharmacy, the flagship health and beauty care brand of the Hong Kong-based A.S. Watson Group which is majority owned by C.K. Hutchison Holdings, formally opened its doors to Cadiznons after the blessing and ribbon-cutting ceremonies held Tuesday, Mayor Salvador Escalante, Jr. said.Escalante said the Chefs and Bakers, a one-stop shop and go-to-store for baking, also inaugurated its branch in Cadiz City late last week.Chefs and Bakers is a wholesale and retail specialty store selling imported and local baking and cooking products and ingredients as well as confectionary, packaging, party supplies, bakewares and cookwares, among others."These are indications o...