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The 83rd Bacolod City Charter Day celebration on Friday, June 18, has been postponed because of the current COVID-19 situation, Bacolod Mayor Evelio Leonardia announced on Wednesday, June 16.“The postponement of our celebration is indefinite until better times come. We hope for the understanding of our people as this is a move to contain COVID-19,” he said.The mayor on Tuesday said Secretary Salvador Panelo, chief legal counsel of President Rodrigo Duterte, would be the guest of honor and speaker at the Charter Day ceremonies at the Bacolod City Government Center lobby on June 18.The announcement drew flax from netizens who scored the holding of a mass gathering despite the Department of Health’s having tagged Bacolod City as a high risk area for COVID-19.Leonardia, in a st...

Negros Oriental and Bacolod City now have more active COVID-19 cases than Negros Occidental.Negros Occidental had 1,771 active COVID-19 cases on Wednesday, June 16, the Provincial Incident Management Team (PIMT) reported.The areas in Negros Occidental with triple-digit active cases are Silay City – 154, Himamaylan City – 153, Kabankalan City – 150, Bago City -133, Talisay City – 131, and Sagay City - 113, the PIMT also reported.Bacolod City has 1,918 COVID-19 active cases, the Department of Health reported.Negros Oriental, which is under Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine, has 2,242 active COVID-19 cases, its Provincial Health Office (PHO) reported.The areas in Negros Oriental with triple-digit active COVID-19 cases are Dumaguete City with 910, Tanjay City – 204 , S...

Richard Malihan photoGov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued a memorandum to the 31 mayors of Negros Occidental Tuesday, June 15, setting the guidelines to improve and speed up the COVID-19 vaccination roll-out in the province.A simultaneous mass vaccination drive of 13,000 Negrenses in all 31 cities and towns of Negros Occidental will be held Thursday and Friday, June 17 and 18.The guidelines state that immediately upon receipt of the vaccines from the Department of Health (DOH), the Provincial Health Office (PHO) will schedule the vaccine roll-out to all 31 Local Government Units (LGUs) in Negros Occidental.The schedule shall in no case be later than three days from receipt of the vaccines, Lacson said.The official list of vaccine allocation per LGU will be disseminated to al...

NOCPPO photoThe Negros Occidental Police Provincial Office has began implementing stricter boundary control following the order of Governor Eugenio Jose Lacson to impose stringent measures to curb the surge in COVID-19 cases in the province starting Tuesday, June 15.Col. Romy Palgue, police provincial director, said that policemen were deployed in the five Negros Oriental border points.These are the Kabankalan City-Mabinay, Hinobaan-Basay, Isabela-Guihulngan City, La Castellana-Canlaon City, and San Carlos City-Vallehermoso border points.He also said that stricter border control was also implemented at the Talisay-Bacolod-Bago entry points.Under the executive order of Lacson, stricter border control with Negros Oriental was set until June 30, and all non-essential trave...

San Carlos PNP photoAn Indian national was arrested following a fatal accident that killed a man in Barangay Rizal, San Carlos City, Negros Occidental, Tuesday night, June 15.Nabbed was 32-year-old Sukhjit Sidhu of Barangay 2 in the city.Sidhu was driving a Toyota Innova when he collided head-on with a motorcycle driven by 25-year-old Rodemar Dayanan of Barangay Rizal, the police report said.The motorcycle driver who sustained injuries was rushed to the San Carlos City Hospital where he was declared dead on arrival.Sidhu and his two companions were also brought to the hospital after they sustained minor injuries.The police said the Indian national was apprised of his constitutional rights in the dialect known to him during his arrest.He is now under the custody ...

The Department of Diagnostic Imaging and Radiologic Services at the Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital marked a milestone Wednesday, June 16, as it launched its new Hitachi Scenaria View CT scan, Dr. Julius Drilon, CLMMRH chief, said.It’s a 128-slice CT scan that can bring down scanning time to 30 up to 50 percent than the current scanning time. In fact, a 1700mm whole-body scan can only be done within 10 seconds, he said.“During this pandemic, this would be a safer option for our patients since the machine shortens their stay in the CT scan room, aside from the fact that they can receive up to 83b percent less radiation dose than usual,” Drilon said.Meanwhile, as a COVID-19 referral hospital in Negros, Drilon assured the public that they have a separate dedi...

The medical community aired its dismay Tuesday, June 15, at the failure of the National Inter-Agency Task Force (NIATF) to place Bacolod City and Negros Occidental under a “stricter quarantine status” amid the ongoing surge in COVID-19 cases.President Rodrigo Duterte announced Monday night, that Bacolod City and Negros Occidental will remain under Modified General Community Quarantine (MGCQ), while Iloilo City, Iloilo province and Negros Oriental will be under the more stringent Modified Enhanced Community Quarantine (MECQ).The Philippine College of Physicians-Negros Occidental Chapter (PCP-NOC) headed by Dr. Ronel Sario in a statement issued Tuesday said “We are saddened by the decision of the NIATF with regards to the quarantine status assigned to us, while our neighboring provin...

City PIO file photoThe health care system is about to collapse amid the continuing surge in COVID-19 cases in Bacolod City, Dr. Julius Drilon, Corazon Locsin Montelibano Memorial Regional Hospital chief, said Tuesday, June 15.He said with Bacolod City remaining under Modified General Community Quarantine, drastic bold decisions need to be made now because the primary defense against COVID-19 in the communities have bogged down.“The numbers are out, the cases are rising,” Drilon said.There has been poor enforcement of public health protocols, which needs to be aggressively acted on to arrest the spread of the virus, Drilon said.“The primary defense is prevention,” he said.There is need to continue to educate, test, isolate and vaccinate, he stressed.Drilon also s...