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Tests conducted at the Teresita L. Jalandoni Provincial Hospital molecular laboratory in Silay City on Wednesday, March 31, showed 53 new COVID-19 cases in a single day in Negros Occidental, provincial consultant on economic affairs Alfredo Abelardo Benitez, said Thursday, April 1.Cadiz City had the highest number at 12 followed by San Carlos City with 9.The other cases were in Bacolod City, Bago City, Valladolid and Isabela – five each, Escalante City – three, Talisay City and Cauayan - two each, and Sagay City, La Carlota City, Manapla, Pulupandan and Toboso - one each.*

Kabankalan LGU photoThirty medical staff and personnel of the Kabankalan City Health Office were vaccinated with AstraZeneca on Wednesday March 31 at the covered court of Brgy. 3.Leading the vaccination of the city's medical front liners were Dr. Fernando Fernandez, Dr. Elizabeth Junto and Alita Repique, nurse supervisor.CHO and DOH nurses and other personnel were also vaccinated.

Bacolod PIO photoResorts and cafés in Barangays Alangilan and Granada in Bacolod City will be closed this Easter Sunday, April 4.Owners of these businesses have agreed to temporarily suspend their operations on Easter Sunday, after Mayor Evelio Leonardia and Vice Mayor El Cid Familiaran appealed to them - in view of the sudden spike of COVID-19 cases in Bacolod.An open forum was conducted in Alangilan Wednesday, March 31, attended by business owners, barangay officials, City Hall officials, members of the City Legal Office- Enforcement Team, and the Bacolod City Police Office to discuss matters pertaining to the temporary closure.“These are just preventive measures. We are not on lockdown,” reiterated Leonardia, who also conducted a similar dialog with resort and business ...

Capitol photoGov. Eugenio Jose Lacson issued an executive order Tuesday, March 30, requiring all travelers to Negros Occidental to undergo RT-PCR tests for COVID-19 and quarantine on arrival until their negative results are out, effective 12 a.m. Thursday, April 1.Executive Order 21-18-A, Series of 2021 requires the implementation of uniform travel protocols under Inter-Agency Task Force for Emerging Infectious Diseases (IATF-EID) Resolution 101 with revisions amid the rising number of COVID-19 cases in the province.Lacson also issued EO 21-20, Series of 2021 Tuesday, extending the Modified General Community Quarantine in Negros Occidental up to April 30.All travelers entering the airports and seaports of Negros Occidental shall undergo mandatory swabbing for COVID-19 RT-PC...

Mayor Evelio “Bing” Leonardia has ordered the closure of all beach resorts in barangays Punta Taytay and Pahanocoy in Bacolod on Easter Sunday, April 4, to contain the surge of COVID -19 cases in the city.Leonardia’s order came after meeting barangay officials and resort owners of the two barangays Tuesday afternoon, March 30, who agreed to temporarily close on Sunday to prevent huge crowds from gathering.The mayor said he will also meet with resort owners in barangays Alangilan and Granada on Wednesday“This is just a preventive measure, this is not a lockdown,” Leonardia said.Negros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson Tuesday also reminded the public to seriously observe all health protocols during Holy Week amid the spike in COVID-19 cases.During Holy Week we should t...

The government center in Sipalay City, Negros Occidental, is operating on a skeletal workforce after four of its employees tested positive for COVID-19.A Sipalay employee who attended a funeral and spent the night in Bacolod City tested positive for COVID-19, Dr. Florencio Juplo, Sipalay city health officer, said.His close contacts – two city nutritionists and a social welfare employee also tested positive for the virus, he said.The four are currently at the COVID-19 quarantine facility of the city.Juplo said they swabbed the close contacts of the four for COVID-19 tests, and also conducted random testing, and the majority tested negative.If the test results of all of those who are swabbed are released soon, the Sipalay City government center is expected to be fully ope...

Seven Commission on Elections Bacolod employees have tested positive for COVID-19, City Elections Officer Kathrina Trinio Caña said Tuesday, March 30.The first Comelec Bacolod employee who tested positive was coughing, lethargic and felt like she was coming down with a fever, so we encouraged her to be tested because she has an underlying health condition, Caña said.The employee was swabbed for an RT-PCR test on Friday and on Saturday she was confirmed to have COVID-19. She was suffering from shortness of breath and was hospitalized Monday night, Caña added.The rest of the COMELEC Bacolod employees were swabbed on Monday, Caña said.Five additional COMELEC employees and a utility worker of the city government assigned to their office tested positive, she said.Nine COMELE...

Health Regional Director Emilia Monicimpo receiving the additional COVID-19 vaccines that arrived in Iloilo City Tuesday.*DOH-6 photoNegros Occidental Gov. Eugenio Jose Lacson said local chief executives who are senior citizens can be vaccinated against COVID-19 after the health care workers.That is because the next category for vaccination is senior citizens and the national Inter-Agency Task Force has okayed the inclusion of local chief executives in that category, he said.Lacson, 61, said he wants to be vaccinated but he is conscious of the opinion of the public and wants to know how they feel.An additional 7,200 vials of the Sinovac vaccines arrived in Iloilo City Tuesday for distribution to various provinces and highly urbanized cities of Western Visayas.*

The Department of Tourism (DOT) will only allow staycations in hotels during the Holy Week in areas under modified general community quarantine (MGCQ).Tourism Secretary Bernadette Romulo-Puyat issued interim operational guidelines to DOT-accredited hotel and other accommodation establishments, which took effect Monday, March 29, and will last until April 4.Under the interim guidelines, the DOT has categorized the accommodation establishments based on the nature of their operations.These are:*Isolation facilities - for the isolation of COVID-19 positive guests*Quarantine hotels - for quarantine of guests who may have been exposed to the virus*Regular hotels - establishments that are neither isolation facilities nor quarantine hotels and that they were issued with Certificates of...

Bayan Negros photoProgressive groups trooped to the Fountain of Justice in Bacolod City Tuesday, March 30, for the “Kalbaryo sang Pumuluyo.”The groups led by Bayan Negros marched down major thoroughfares in the city to condemn the continued attacks and threats on activists and dissenters.They also paraded a giant makeshift cross to demonstrate the sufferings of the Filipinos under the “fascist” Duterte regime and held banners with a message: “Ayuda, puluy-an kag ikaayong lawas. Indi pagpamatay (Assistance, housing and good health, not killings).”“Far from being just a laboratory rat, Negros continues to be a heated target of state forces under this tyrannical regime. This administration resorts to violence as it is incapable of addressing the decades-long problem of hunger ...